Mona Lisa
by Devious.Intent
Summary: The smell of despair. The taste of death. The feeling of blood, warm and slick over your fingers. It's something you can't forget. No matter how hard you try. Believe me. I have. At some point, you stop running and embrace it. After all these lives. All this time. What choice did I have? Sister Fate. You are indeed beautiful and cruel. Warning : Mature Content. Please review!
1. Chapter One : It's Easier This Way

_**Disclaimer:**_** I do not and never will own any right to Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. Though I fervently wish I did. However this story, it's general plot line, all of it's original characters do belong to me. Go on, try to sue. I think I've got some lint and a few quarters in my purse.**

Reader Warning : This story contains language and mature situations.

...

_**:Mona Lisa:**_

...

_The smell of despair. The taste of death. The feeling of blood, warm and slick over your fingers. It's something you can't forget. No matter how hard you try. Believe me. I have. At some point, you stop running and embrace it. After all these lives. All this time. What choice did I have? Sister Fate. You are indeed beautiful and cruel._

...

_**:Chapter One : It's Easier This Way:**_

...

"You're no regular girl." For a moment, her heart skipped a beat, but she smiled, as she always did, fluttering her eyelashes seductively. He was already sitting on the red silk sheets of her bed. She sauntered towards him slowly, the bottle of gin heavy in her hand as she raised it to her lips and took a long swig. She offered it to him, and watched with the smile still on her full lips as he took a swig of his own.

It was better this way. Her perfectly manicured fingers caressed the front of his button down shirt, playing across the buttons slowly. His own lips curved into a smirk past the lip of the glass bottle. It was easier this way. She tipped the bottle back up, helping to guide the liquor down his throat. Her long dark hair hung past them both, in long wavy tendrils. He drank. Heartily. They always did.

"You're no regular guy." She whispered it into his ear, her tongue flicking out on the last syllable to taste his skin. No fear. No worry. Oh if he only knew. She was sure now, that he did not. A shame really. She let her eyes pass over him. He wasn't horrible looking. A strong face, with long black hair and a tough goatee. His eyes were so dark blue they were almost black. Leather seemed to be his fabric of choice. He had a studded black leather vest over a white tank, black leather riding chaps over dark blue jeans. A biker by choice. It made things less complicated. Bikes were child's play to get rid of. Her lips curved in a smile he looked sure was meant for him. His eyes were cloudy now. He didn't know any better, she supposed.

He reached for her, letting the bottle drop from his hands haphazardly. It hit the carpet with a soft thunk, but by some miracle didn't spill. She sighed. That stuff was expensive. She allowed his arms to encircle her. Let him have it. This one last touch. She couldn't help the shiver of disgust as his hands squeezed her ass cheeks with gusto. It was easier this way.

Her hand slid slowly down his arm, transferring to her own thigh when she'd brushed past the fingers still kneading her ample bottom. A little lower and he might have had time to put up a fight. It was there. Where it had always been. One of her prized possessions. She pulled the dark metal magnum from it's holster and pressed it to his forehead with speed that would have bested a sober gunslinger. Rin. Her harbinger of swift death.

"This is for Lily." She whispered. "And Kati, and Sonya, and all the other little girls you left broken, lying in shallow graves." His eyes widened, and she didn't enjoy the fear, didn't revel in the panic. She felt her image shift, a tingling feeling. Her hair becoming a stunning molten silver, her eyes changing from green to dark, stormy grey. He opened his mouth, and she smiled brightly at the three words that spilled forth.

"Shini No Kisu." She pulled the trigger before he could speak another word. She tired of the excuses. Of the begging. It was easier this way.

The blood was hot. So hot it almost burned. She didn't blink when it splattered against the pale skin of her face. His eyes were black now. Open and unseeing. With little more than a slight curve of her lips, she pushed the rapidly cooling body from her, letting it slump to the bed. "The one and only." She said softly, sighing as she wiped at the blood that had stained her dress. A shame. It had been one of her favorites. A tight black number that dipped low at the chest and flowed from the hips, perfect for concealing Rin. She didn't look up when the door opened. She already knew who was standing there.

"Must you always make such a mess?" The voice was childlike and playful. A tone only she was privy to when it came to the other occupant of the room.

"At least I do it quietly." She said back, a smile touching her lips again. Her companion stepped up beside her, and she surveyed her in the dim light of the room. Her hair was short, black with a hint of dark purple. Her eyes were the color of Deep Purple Orchids late in bloom, large and framed with dark eyelashes. She wore a catsuit of all black, which made her look older than she was. Then again, they _were_ both a lot older than they looked.

"Quietly huh?" Her friend's voice was laced with amusement. She ignored it. Instead she bent to fish the keys of the man's bike from his pocket, finding a bag of cocaine and a condom before reaching her prize. Throwing the two offending trinkets onto the bed beside the body, she tossed her comrade the keys. She caught them with grace, though she'd not even been looking.

"Shall I take it to Harlee?" She asked, crossing her arms and leaning against the door frame.

"Yeah." Was the answer. "Don't let him low-ball you." Her small friend had it in her to look offended, then smiled. "Thanks Hota." And then the petite girl was gone like dust on the wind. She smiled despite herself, as she stripped off the ruined dress. That was why they called her Kemuri no Kaze. {Smoke on the Wind.}

She turned her eyes back to the dead body that occupied her bed, her eyes holding no remorse. And that was why they called her Shini no Kisu. {The Kiss of Death.} She walked slowly to the window of the highrise she owned, gazing down at the city below. There were people streaming the streets in the night air and city neon, unaware of what lied above them. She cared little for her nakedness, as she gazed upon them. She brought her hand to the window, ignoring the blood she smeared against the cool glass.

"What would you think of me now?"

...

"Are you listening Duo?" The voice was only slightly louder than the hum-drum of the conversation before it. He raised his eyes to the speaker, smiling brightly.

"Sure Quat-man." He said cheerily. The look in his friend's eye told him he was not getting off so easily. He raised his hands in apology, the smile still plastered to his lips. "Sorry. Sorry. I'm paying attention now." He chuckled at the death glare he got from the man next to him. And then laughed harder at his comrade's annoyance at such.

He closed his mouth tight and managed to look apologetic when Quatre cleared his throat. The lights dimmed, and his eyes turned to the far wall, where an image was being projected. "These are the best pictures we have of our targets."

Duo wracked his brain for what the conversation had been about. New targets...blah blah...females...oh, he'd missed a perfect opportunity for a joke. All because of...

He squinted his eyes to focus better on the picture on the far wall. It was a blurry image of two women, dressed in black. One was slightly taller than the other, both petite, with brunette hair. For a moment he thought... but the picture was blurry, there were no facial features at all. And she... she had hair of wrought silver.

He shook his head to clear it and tuned into the conversation again.

"We're after Onnas?"1 Wufei scoffed. Duo looked at him sidelong. His arms were crossed, and he was standing. His face was twisted in a look that was full of annoyance. Typical Wufei.

"Yes Wufei." Quatre sounded exasperated. He pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath before continuing. "These women have been taking the law into their own hands. So far we have recorded 23 Deaths by their hand." He clicked through mugshots of criminals. Some familiar. Some not. The last picture he landed on was someone they all knew well. They'd been looking for him feverishly for the last three months. "You all remember Ransom Tredell."

There was a collective nod through the room. "Murdered thirteen girls under the age of 7. They were repeatedly raped, sodomized, and finally their throats cut. Left in shallow graves from California to Ohio." Trowa's voice was calm, but Duo noticed the clenched fist over his paperwork on the table.

"They found his body in Japan." Quatre said. "One bullet through the head." He clicked a button and the image shifted again. It was a picture of Ransom 's dead body, sitting in an alley upright. His face was almost unrecognizable. "It was close range. And it didn't happen in the alley. His body was moved and placed just so. As were all the others. They were all found in relatively public places in the city, and all were left with this in their pockets." Another click, and a picture of a small note with neat red writing appeared. It read only 'It was Easier this way.'

Duo's heart skipped a beat. For a moment he was lost in memory. It was raining, hard. She was begging him not to go. And though it had torn his heart in two, he'd walked away. The last thing he'd said to her had been: "It's Easier this way." He shook his head. He needed a drink. Everything had been leading back to her lately. It was just his warped mind messing with him again. After all, the anniversary was coming up. The anniversary of the last day he'd held her in his arms. Hiiro's low voice snapped him form his reverie.

"Were all the deaths due to gunshot wounds?" Quatre shook his head.

"There has been decapitation. Some poisonings. Other than that most times the death was caused by gunshots. But not always head-shots. Our agents have never been able to find the actual crime scenes either. The bodies are always dumped."

"So why have we been called?" Wufei asked. "Seems like these Onna's are doing the world a service. All of the deaths they caused were criminals who deserved it."

"We cannot allow these two to work on their own." Quatre said. "While it is true that the deaths caused so far were just, in a sense; We must remember that is what the law is for. These criminals deserved a fair trial and a sentencing. Noin and Milliardo worry that left unchecked these subjects could become worse."

"What is our Mission?" Hiiro asked. Duo fought the urge to roll his eyes. He would _never _change. It had taken years, but Duo was finally convinced nothing could snap the boy out of soldier mode.

Quatre looked almost hesitant to answer. "To Contain and question both of these girls. And if they refuse to join us, Kill them." This time Duo had to fight not to let his jaw hang open.

"Whoa Buddy, You're saying we off these girls because they're outside our law, but doing our job?"

"Mission Accepted." He didn't fight the urge to roll his eyes this time.

"Well that's to be expected." Duo said, waving a hand in the air. "You've never turned down a mission Hiiro. But I don't see the point."

Quatre pinched the bridge of his nose. "Of course you know I hope they join us. The only reason we're taking this mission is because truthfully, we're the best team they have. We have the best chance of getting them to come to our side." He scanned the room with his cool turquoise eyes. "They want these girls bad. The bounty could pay all of our expenses for a year."

"You could pay all of our expenses for ten Quatre." Duo said, leaning back in his chair. Quatre pinched the bridge of his nose again, and for a moment Duo felt sorry. His comrade was so easily stressed.

"The money isn't the issue here Duo, and you know that. I would happily pay for anything _any _of you need. And you make rather good money yourselves. I'm saying if they put this to bounty, we're looking at the death of innocents. We know those criminals. They were hard to take down. These girls have managed to take down almost everything that slipped through our fingers. And... you've seen the pictures. They have no problem doing it very violently. I'd like to ask a few questions myself, to be perfectly honest."

"As would I." Trowa said. "Accepted." Quatre nodded curtly. It still looked like his head hurt. Duo felt a pang of pity in his chest again. It seemed over the years his empathy had gotten stronger. And though he hid it, they had all guessed it was more uncomfortable than it was useful. Large groups gave him a headache that would impair his ability to shoot. So these days, he was their tactician, their informant, and almost... their manager. Amidst that was the fact that he was also their glue. Which was a hard job. They weren't the easiest... or most functional group to deal with. Though all skilled in many ways; Their general misgivings over the battles they'd fought, the scars that still lingered, and the pain of things lost made them volatile. They were comrades in War again... like when they'd first met.

"I accept as well." Wufei said. "I think I want to meet these mysterious Onnas." Duo couldn't help it.

"Ooooh... Wu-man's got a cru-ush..." He laughed at the immediate glare from his comrade's coal grey eyes. Wufei spoke over him, glaring still.

"I'll cut off that braid yet Maxwell. I am still amazed at how little you've grown in the past few years." Duo waved his hand again, catching his breath from the laughter with a smile still on his face.

"We all know it's only important that the Shinigami kicks ass and takes no names. And that these fingers can still hack a computer in less than 30 seconds." He waved his fingers in the air in example. Felt his own eyes get cold. Decided not to care. "I don't ever have to grow up. As long as I'm good at my job." The room had gotten silent. He just didn't have it in him to fake it right now. He looked at Quatre, who was looking at him with eyes full of concern and hurt. His hand was clutched at the fabric over his heart. Duo felt sorry again. He smiled to reassure his friend, and crossed his arms in front of him. "What the Hell. Shinigami rides Again."

Quatre sighed, only barely, and his fingers on his shirt slowly relaxed. Duo nodded to him, and he smiled back softly, speaking again. "Then we are all agreed." He said. It wasn't a question, but there were slight nods from all anyways. An assurance. That they were all on board. And would do this regardless of their own opinions. As the team they'd been created to be. The Protector's Black Operations Team Alpha. B.O.T.A. For short. God he hated acronyms.

...

He hated shuttles. Mostly because he hated sitting in one place for too long. Though he had to admit the one Noin had sanctioned for them was better than most. There was TV, a kitchen, and a lounge. As well as comfortable sleeping quarters. Which was where he laid now. This trip wasn't really long enough to get the sleep he needed, but they'd be in Japan in a few hours. And Gods, he needed to get his head straight.

It just kept going back to her. Why did it have to be now? Any other time of the year. Any other time would have been just fine. At a time like this he was usually on vacation somewhere far. Somewhere he could forget the look on her face. When he had told her goodbye. He'd searched for her since the end of the Eve Wars. And found the one thing he couldn't bear. The Death Certificate for Serenity Maclaine.

He'd been planning on going back for her from the moment he said goodbye. It was something he'd kept to himself. A silent promise among many others. A car crash, the certificate had said. The other information he'd found said it had been a nasty one. She and her friend had been pronounced dead on the scene.

His heart clenched in his chest, and he found it only slightly amusing when he clutched the fabric of his shirt over it. No doubt something he'd picked up from Quatre. The smirk on his lips felt fake. He turned his lips into a frown, but that felt even more so. He settled his lips evenly and sighed.

"Sere." It was a whisper, and he closed his eyes with the pain of it. It wasn't Easier. It never had been. To leave her side. Beyond the Maxwell Church she was the only thing... He shook his head to clear it, rolling to his side and stuffing the pillow beneath his head.

He screwed his eyes shut, but no matter what he did, the image of her, her beautiful grey-blue eyes full of tears, would not leave his brain. He still wasn't sleeping when the shuttle landed. He wished he could tell her. Given the choice, he'd take it all back. Given the opportunity, she'd be in his arms right now. Breathing. Laughing. Alive.

...

It was something freeing. Something in all her years she'd never indulged in. Something, she supposed, smirking at her reflection in the mirror, that this life brought out of her. Hotaru worried sometimes at the person she'd become. 'As if an unreachable porcelain doll.' She had put it. She smiled at the memory in her head as she brushed out her long golden hair. It looked strange beneath her fingers. Something she never really got used to seeing. A picture flashed in her mind. She ignored it.

She didn't like the look of the small frown that marred her features, so she curved them up into a full-lipped smile. The show was almost on. She stood and straightened the long black dress that clung to her, giving herself one last look-over in the mirror. She couldn't let the past come crashing in now. It wouldn't do at all to disappoint her fans.

It was silent when she waltzed onto the stage, so all she could hear were the first notes of her song stretch over the crowd, and the click of her leopard print stilettos. The smile, one that said 'come hither', stayed on her face as she twirled around the pole and the crowd went wild.

In this moment, the past stayed right where it was. Nothing could touch her. It was like no feeling she could remember, no drug she'd ever taken. And by now, Goddess she'd taken so many. With the song on her, the money being thrown, the eyes that wanted, that admired, she was free. She bent to caress a man's face, leaning in to leave the stain of her blood red lips on his face. He stuffed 20 dollars in the hem of her dress, and she smiled, reaching up to slowly tug it away, and reveal the black bra and matching Brazilian panties beneath it. It pooled to the floor in soft waves, and the cheers got louder.

In the audience, she felt the eyes on her, and the shifted slowly to meet them. Sad eyes of deep violet. She didn't feel bad. Not as bad as she should have felt. Hotaru's worry and sadness for her did not exist here. She did not exist here. Only the music, the adoring fans did. In this moment she was Amity Lelaine, Dancer Extraordinaire. Serenity was truly and really dead.

...

She threw the pieces of her clothing to her dressing room chair. Here, she had her own dressing room. Different outfits were scattered here and there. Really it was like a chromed hotel room. She loved this club. Gianni was a good manager, when he wasn't trying to get in her pants. The girls were likable. Not the drones she'd met at some places. She bored easily these days. But this place had caught her attention.

It was called Moon Lit Night. A popular club in the Red Light District of Japan. Not only was it lucrative, it was the best cover she'd ever had. No one suspected the sweet, though tainted beauty to be a murderer, no matter her intentions. Hotaru was welcome in and out on a whim, though her physical age bothered most people. She was constantly complaining of how annoying it was to be 16. For the umpteenth time.

There was a soft swish behind her, and she smiled. "Did you know I was thinking about you?" She asked without looking up. The voice was as warm as Hotaru knew how to manage.

"I've told you a million times I'm not psychic." She chuckled quietly, turning to face the smaller girl. She wasn't dressed in her usual catsuit, but instead a short black tank and a mid-thigh black sailor skirt. The tank was adorned with a small white bow at the breast, and she wore knee high white socks and black, high-heel mary-jane's.

"You make that?" Serenity asked. Hotaru nodded with a small smirk.

"And everyone loves it." She said smugly. "The funny thing is I didn't realize what it looked like until I put it on. I almost threw it away." Serenity smirked too.

"Yeah." She said. "It's been a long time, hasn't it?" She sat at the vanity of her room, brushing her long hair in the mirror again, uncaring of her nakedness. It had been a long time since they'd worn outfits like that. After the death of her senshi she wandered alone as Cosmos. For a millennium or two, she thought it was going to stay that way. Then, she felt two presences she thought she'd never feel again reappear. The star seeds of Pluto and Saturn had been reborn. She was no longer alone. Setsuna and Hotaru were with her. But when Setsuna came of age to return to the gates, something happened none of them could explain.

She tried not to wince at the memory. It was the most physical pain she remembered ever feeling. All of a sudden she was mortal. A mortal albeit, with silver eyes and molten silver hair. For the first few years, it had been enjoyable. Until she learned the catch. There was always a catch. While Setsuna returned to the gates, Serenity and Hotaru seemed to be Earth bound. Certain abilities resurfaced. Accelerated healing, the speed and strength. Some abilities came back with consequence. For example, healing of others was draining. And fatal wounds, though they could be healed, required taking on the wound itself. And then there was the last catch. At the dawn of their 26th year, it all ended. And the cycle started again. Their bodies would whither, their hearts would fail, and they would die. Only to be reborn again, memories intact. She'd lost count of how many times.

This circle had changed the both of them drastically. Perhaps she herself more than Hotaru. Hotaru retained a quality about her that welcomed long years. Serenity grew tired. It created a coldness that had chilled her to the core. She had not been made to live like this. She'd been made for a future that escaped her, long ago. It was numbing.

"Ren." Hotaru's voice snapped her from her reverie, and she looked at the girl through the reflection in the mirror. "Where are you right now?"

"Right here Hota." She said softly with a smile. "I'm always right here." It sounded convincing to the ears, but Hotaru wasn't fooled.

"Yeah." She said, moving to perch atop the arm of the overstuffed chair in the middle of the room. "Sure you are."

"Don't be cross Love." Serenity said softly, and Hotaru only calmed because her voice begged forgiveness. She put the brush down, and reached for a hair tie, pinning her waist length hair at the nape of her neck.

"As if I could stay mad at you for long." Hotaru said. She swung her legs. Her toes just barely touched the floor from her perch. Serenity stood, pulling two dresses from the wall closet beside her vanity.

"Blue, or red?" She asked with a smile. Hotaru smirked, falling back into the seat of the chair and looking at her with her dark hair in her eyes.

"Red."

...

"Amity." She turned her eyes on him and smiled. Was rewarded with his own toothy grin. "You know that's contagious."

She chuckled softly, setting down the glass of bourbon in her hand with a soft click and the tinkling of the ice-cubes encased within. "Gianni, Love, what brings you to my door?"

He leaned back on the door frame, and she studied him with mild interest. He was young yet. Young, and stereotypically Italian. What he was doing in Japan she didn't know, and had never asked. He always looked comfortable. Never out of place, no matter where he stood. She admired it about him. Even here, standing at the threshold of her room, he looked at ease. By the time they got to her door, most men were either drenched in sweat or filled to the brim with alcohol.

"I worry for you." She narrowed her eyes, but the smile stayed on her face as she turned in her chair. She crossed her legs, not that it mattered. She was wearing little more than a gauzy black wrap with matching boy-shorts.

"Don't." She said simply. "I'm a big girl." She reached for her glass behind her and brought it to her painted lips, taking a sip and relishing the cool burn of alcohol down her throat. She watched him frown disapprovingly,and scan the room. Empty bottles of her favorite poisons were strewn here and there.

"You've been..." She cut him off.

"Drinking a lot?" She smiled and took another sip of the bourbon, holding it in two hands like a mug of tea when she was done. "I can assure you it doesn't affect my performance." He rolled his eyes in an endearing way. She looked him over with eyes that were glazed only slightly by the bourbon. So charming and caring, he was. Gorgeous, with bright green eyes and a great build. And he used it to his advantage. He'd probably boned every girl that passed through his club, barring her and Hotaru. She'd never give him the satisfaction. And he was too proud to admit he wanted her that bad. And Hotaru was one, too young, and two, hated his guts for reasons she didn't care to explain.

"I know it doesn't affect your performance." He purred. There it was. The charm. "I worry how it affects your brain." She chuckled again, took another sip.

"I assure you my brain is fine. Is there something else, Gianni?" She uncrossed her legs and recrossed them, smirking at the momentary lust in his eyes when she did so. He was sweet, but that didn't mean she didn't enjoy playing with him. He shook it off with practiced ease, and smirked.

"No Amity." He said softly. "I'll see you on stage in an hour." She nodded, the smile still on her face as he closed the door behind him. When he was gone, she stood, moving to the small bar in the corner of the room to refill her glass.

"You shouldn't toy with him like that." She didn't turn.

"Normal people knock." She said softly, only turning after she'd taken a hearty sip of her bourbon. She leaned against the bar lazily, looking at the girl she considered family.

"I'm not normal. Neither are you." Hotaru was perched on the windowsill, uncaring of the two story drop. She wore her catsuit once again, paired with sleek leather boots. A vision in black.

"Don't start Love." She sighed into her glass. "Not now." She took a sip as Hotaru hopped gracefully to the floor, without a sound, and strode closer to her.

"What is it about this time of year Ren?" Hotaru asked. "That makes you like this?" For a moment, Serenity thought she could see the hurt in her eyes, but it was gone as soon as it came. Her voice was hard when she spoke again. "You've never kept secrets before."

"Hota..." She kept her voice soft, and set down her glass, raising her arms to the girl she loved so much. Hotaru walked quickly to be in her embrace. She had long since stopped being bothered by Serenity's nudity. She embraced her, and then pulled her back by her shoulders to look her in the eye. "I don't have much time left you know. And it shouldn't be wasted on things we cannot change. On things better left in the past."

"Ren, I..." Serenity squeezed the girls shoulder, smiling softly.

"Don't Hota." She said. "It's not important. And it doesn't change anything. You know what we live with. August is coming. And we have a lot to do... before..."

This time Hotaru cut her off. "Don't say it. You're right. It doesn't matter. I'm sorry I asked." She pulled from Serenity's embrace, but kept her gaze. She couldn't help the empty feeling that budded in her chest. She hated this. The tension that came with knowing, always knowing she'd have to leave Hotaru alone. They were rarely born at the same time. And only twice had Hotaru been the eldest of the two. This time they'd been born nine years apart. "I found him Ren." Her attention was instantly grabbed.

"I knew you could." She said with a smile, and picked up her glass again, taking a sip. She smiled into the rim, her eyes focused on the crystal clear cubes that floated on the surface of the amber liquid. "I'm on stage in an hour. We move tomorrow night." When she looked up Hotaru was gone.

...

"Nice Digs." Duo whistled. He saw Quatre's smile out of the corner of his eye. "Is there anywhere you don't own a house?"

This time Quatre chuckled. "Yes Duo. Many places. But we've done a considerable amount of business in Tokyo. I thought it best to grab up this Condo while it was available."

"This isn't a Condo." Duo said. "It's a fucking mansion on stilts." Quatre chuckled again, and Duo smiled. He enjoyed when his quips actually hit home. Rare was it, that he got anything more than a stoic glare.

The 'Condo' consisted of two floors and five bedrooms, five bathrooms. The bottom floor housed three bedrooms, and the top floor consisted of two bedrooms, a sizable kitchen and a large living area. Beneath them were more Condos, but they occupied the top two floors. The view was amazing. All skylines and city lights.

"So where do we start?" Trowa asked. He was leaning on an expensive looking leather couch. Quatre looked at him with eyes rimmed in red. The trip here had been hard on him. There were a lot of people in Tokyo.

"With sleep." He said. "Your bedrooms have all been laid out. Hiiro, Wufei and Duo downstairs. Trowa and I up here." Duo raised an eyebrow, but chose not to comment. Quatre didn't need his meddling right now. And Trowa would probably punch him. Why they always remained so close in sleeping quarters wasn't really his business anyway.

"You can sleep." He said, scanning the room. His eyes rested on Quatre. "You should sleep. But I'm gonna go out and hit the town."

Wufei rolled his eyes with a groan. "Do try to be sober in the morning, won't you?" He said gruffly, and then under his breath. "Braided Baka."

"Hey, I'll try to catch some leads while I'm out." Duo said, but couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. "You could come with."

"To those seedy places you think of as fun?" Wufei said. "I'll pass." He turned for the elevator down to the second floor, and Hiiro went with him. Sometimes he wondered if those two were hiding something from him as well. They'd make an interesting couple. He wondered vaguely if they'd make any noise in bed. He shook his head. God he needed a drink. He headed instead for the stairs. A walk down twelve flights would do him good.

"Duo." He turned just in time to catch the keys Quatre had flung through the air. "There's three cars in the lot. Pick one." Duo grinned wide and nodded in thanks, heading on his way.

He was sweating only slightly when he reached the parking deck below the condos. Cars were a commodity in Tokyo. A Condo with one even more so. Duo vaguely wondered just how much Quatre had paid. He couldn't help the slackening of his jaw when he saw the spaces labeled to match the Condo's number. Beneath the numerals 222 were a sleek Black Jag, a Black Extended Hummer, and a Dark Green Mustang. "Oh baby." He said aloud. "Daddy is home." He ran his hand over the hood of the Mustang, fingered through the keys in his hand, and opened the door. It smelled new. The seats were beige leather. The dash lit up light green. "Quatre you have amazing taste." Fitting in the key, he turned it, and was rewarded with the smooth purr of the engine. "Fuck yeah." He shifted into reverse, and took the ramp out to the busy Road.

He knew vaguely where the red-light district was. He'd been to Tokyo a few times. But Quatre had just recently bought this Condo. He liked the red-light district for three reasons. They catered easily to foreigners, they had every poison you could think of, and they had lots and lots of pretty girls.

It took a half an hour to get there because of traffic, but when he pulled into the parking-lot of the Moon Lit Night, he knew he'd found the right place. A valet took his key, and a stunning Asian in a black dress was there to greet him at the door. He felt under-dressed in his plain black button up, with black slacks and black sneakers. She didn't seem to mind. She playfully tugged on the rim of his black baseball cap and ran her fingers down the length of his braid over his shoulder before offering her arm. Her accent was thick, but he understood her well enough.

"Welcome to Moon Lit Night Sir." He smiled, and was pleased when she smiled back. He took her arm and she led him inside. She left him at the door with a soft kiss on the cheek and a smile. He nodded his appreciation and took a good look. Gorgeous women in long gowns were in abundance. Some were natives. Some Americans. Some from different countries all together. Plenty of variety. His kind of place. He smiled and found a table of his own close to the stage. A waiter appeared immediately. He ordered a bourbon on the rocks and sat back to watch the show.

A brunette with legs that went on forever spun the pole right now. Her green eyes were so piercing that he doubted any man could resist. He scanned the room. Any of these girls would do. His bourbon came and he swished it down, barely tasting it before ordering another, and telling the waiter to keep them coming.

This, and one lucky, pretty girl. Would help him forget tonight.

...

_**So end the first chapter of Mona Lisa. I decided to take this story down and reload it, to fix a few plot holes and shorten the chapters a bit. I hope you enjoyed! Look out for the next chapter of Mona Lisa soon!**_

_** :**_

_**For those who didn't know...**_

_**1 : Onnas : Women**_

_**2 : Omae O Korosu : I'll kill you**_


	2. Chapter Two : One Step Forward

_**Disclaimer:**_** I do not and never will own any right to Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. Though I fevrently wish I did. However this story, it's general plotline, all of it's original characters do belong to me. Go on, try to sue. I think I've got some lint and a few quarters in my purse.**

Reader Warning : This story contains language and mature situations.

...

_**:Mona Lisa:**_

...

_I never would have thought I'd see his face again. It was more than I deserved, and everything I wanted. It hurt, more than it should. To be honest, I didn't think anything could make me feel again. Leave it to him, with his heartbreaking smile, to melt the ice and worm his way back in. Too bad I'll never be the girl he used to know. Maybe, I never was. _

...

_**:Chapter Two : Two Steps Forward, One Step Back:**_

...

It was almost showtime. She peered past the veil that covered the entrance and then past the stage, and her heart stopped. No. It couldn't be... The laugh of the subject of her attention floated across the room as he flirted shamelessly with one of the girls, and her heart started again.. Painfully.

"Ren..." She gasped, turning to look at Hotaru without bothering to hide the emotion in her eyes. It didn't matter with Hotaru. The girl could read her like a book anyways. "Who is he?" She turned back, knowing already that Hotaru had her eyes on him. She wasn't dull.

"A memory." She whispered. Her heart was still beating too fast. She'd never imagined they'd cross paths again. Not in this lifetime.

"Good or bad?" Hotaru asked. Serenity could feel the tensing of Hotaru's muscles. The readiness to solve this problem for her.

"Both." She said softly. "Go back to the Condo and wait for me Hota. I can handle this one." She could feel Hotaru's hesitation now too. Seeing him had made her walls come crumbling down. She fought to build them back up, stepping back quickly and letting Hotaru follow her to her private room. Once inside, she closed the door, picking up the glass of bourbon she'd left behind. She finished it in one gulp, looking directly into Hotaru's Violet eyes through the reflection in the Vanity Mirror. "Go."

"Serenity. Is he..." She slammed her hands on the Vanity, sending the empty glass and several other things tumbling to the floor. The glass shattered, and she couldn't help staring at the pieces on the floor for a moment.

"Go Hotaru." She said strongly, closing her eyes. When she opened them, Hotaru was gone. Sighing, she looked into the mirror and raised her hands, passing them over her hair, her face. The image staring back at her was a pale woman with long black hair. Her eyes sunrise orange. It was all she could change. Hair color, eyes color, a tint of the skin. A far cry from what she used to be able to do with her glamor pen. Gianni was used to it. So were the customers. She changed her style often, for fun. It was easy to pass it off as a trip to the salon and new color contacts. She hoped it would work in this instance. Because that was Duo, sitting in that crowd.

She was banking on the fact that her face had changed much in all these years. Banking on the fact that Serenity Maclaine was dead. She'd died in a car crash, with a young Hotaru Adelle. One they'd orchestrated themselves. She shook her head, Poured another glass of Bourbon. Drank it straight. The DJ was calling her name.

"And Now Gentlemen, a real treat tonight! The lovely Amity is in house!" The cheers were deafening. She took a deep breath. That was right. Serenity was dead. On stage, in that bar. Only Amity took the floor.

She walked down the hall to the click of her red high heels, the soft swish of her satiny blood red ensemble. And with her heart still beating much too fast, threw open the curtain. The crowd went wild, and she smiled rows of perfect white teeth. For a moment, even with him sitting in the audience, in the beat of the music and the grace of her steps, she lost herself.

**Amity. **She closed her eyes and spun the pole, pulling off a perfect trick. **My name is Amity Lelaine.**

...

She was absolutely stunning. His breath caught in his throat when she stepped on stage. The way she danced spoke of years of experience. The passion flowed out of her like sweet honey for all. And her face. It made his heart ache.

She looked painfully like Serenity. The high cheek bones, full lips. At first glance his heart had hoped. But this girl had eyes of an unusual sunrise orange. Dark midnight waves of hair. And Serenity wouldn't have been caught dead in a place like this. Also... Serenity was dead. He took another swig of bourbon to block the pain. This was what he had been trying to avoid. The thought of it, so close to the anniversary of their goodbye, nearly drove him mad. But then her eyes caught his, and when she smiled, a fire lit in him that glued him to his seat.

Gods she was good. No wonder the crowd went crazy for her. He was as disappointed as the rest of the bar's occupants when her show was done. As good looking as she was, he'd barely looked down when she shed her clothes. His eyes had stayed mostly on her face. She never once dropped the light, sexy smile from her lips. It was a smile that brought back a decade and more of pain.

"Can I buy you a drink?" He turned his eyes coolly to the speaker, and couldn't help the jump of surprise when he saw who it was.

"Amity...right?" She laughed, and took the chair beside him. It was hard to ignore the jealous stares. "Isn't that supposed to be my line?"

"Yeah." She said, with a short dry chuckle. "I like being unconventional." He liked her voice. It was smooth, lilting. Sexy. There was a pang at the sound of it that he pushed away. He'd seen a few girls that looked like her. Met a few who sounded like her too. But none were a replacement. Dead. Dead. Serenity was dead. And this was just another pretty face. Probably a very expensive pretty face. "What brings you to the Moon Lit Night?"

"You." He didn't miss the brief panic in her eyes. The flash of fear. But she straightened quickly. He let it go. Logged it in his memory. "I mean you are the most beautiful thing I've seen all night."

She smiled, and he had to catch his breath. She raised her hand, and a waiter appeared, smile on his face as well. "Amity?" He asked, bowing slightly. His accent was very thick.

She spoke in perfect Japanese, and the waiter rushed away. She crossed her legs one over the other, and smoothed out her long red dress. He was so busy staring at her that he didn't even see the waiter come back. He'd only realized his glass had been refilled when she raised it to his brush against her skin when she handed it to him was electric. He took a sip with a smirk on his lips.

She took a sip of her own, leaning in as she spoke. "You're smooth." She said. He didn't miss her golden orange eyes looking him up and down briefly. "I like that. And you look... familiar."

He laughed. Took another sip of the bourbon. It was good stuff. Better than the stuff he'd been drinking. The waiter obviously knew exactly what poison she liked. He'd been right. Expensive. "I get that a lot." He said. He reached for her hand, fighting the shudder in his gut at the touch of her skin. Slowly, with his eyes still on hers, he kissed it, then smiled. "Duo Maxwell. I may run and Hide, But I never tell a lie."

She chuckled. The rise and fall of her breasts caught his eye for a moment, then he turned his attention back to her face. "Is that so?" Her hand was still in his, and he liked the feeling when she intertwined her fingers in his.

"Amity Lelaine." She brushed her fingertips against the inside of his palm, and licked her full red lips. "I lie all the time."

He smiled broadly. "Is that so?" She nodded slowly, smile still on her face, and the movement made waves of her soft midnight hair cascade over her shoulders. He leaned in, so close he could smell her. Her perfume was light, lavender and lilacs. "What do you say we blow this joint? My lovely liar."

She smiled brightly. Though he noticed now, so close, that it never reached her eyes. "I'll meet you in the parking lot in ten."

...

"Goddess. What am I doing?" She slid on a pair of skinny jeans with haste, adding a black tank, and an off-the-shoulder silver top, paired with silver heels. The many rings on her fingers glimmered in the dressing room light. She paused when she wasn't the only person reflected in the mirror.

"I could ask the same thing." She turned to a face she hadn't seen in quite some time. Almost a month now.

"Hey Sets." She said with a smile. "What brings you to my lowly corner of the Earth?"

Setsuna, or rather Sailor Pluto, as she was now, brushed her long dark green hair behind her ears, and adjusted her grip on the too-tall time staff in her hands. "What else would bring me here but you, Hime?"

Serenity frowned, but only slightly. She quickly turned her lips up into a smirk. For her own benefit or Sets, she wasn't sure anymore. She retrieved the glass of bourbon she'd set down while changing, and took a delicate sip. "I hate when you call me that. And you know it. No such thing as a princess of a Dead Kingdom."

"You will always be my Hime." Setsuna said.

"I also hate when you waste my time." Serenity said softly. There was an edge to her voice that she didn't mean to let loose. But it had been a trying day. She tried to remember this was not Setsuna's fault.

"And I hate to see you destroying yourself." Setsuna's eyes were soft. That pang of guilt that sometimes wafted her way reared itself. She pushed it away with the help of the alcohol.

"You act like it matters." Serenity said flippantly, taking another sip of the heady bourbon. Setsuna looked lost for a moment. But when she spoke, her emotions leaked through her voice. Sadness. Pity.

"It matters to me. It matters to Hotaru." Serenity drained her glass in one gulp, and enjoyed the tinkling of the ice cubes in the glass as she set it down. It was a comforting sound these days. A sound that brought her ever closer to oblivion. "It would have mattered to them." She tightened her grip on the glass without meaning to, let go for fear of breaking it.

"You know Sets. After all this. After all these years. I don't know why it surprises you." She caught her eyes with Setsuna's bright Garnet ones, knowing she sounded cynical, cold. Not caring anymore. "How long did you think it was going to last? How long did the fucking fates think I was going to last before I broke?" She looked away from her forever friend, and pushed away from her perch, going instead to the window to look outside. She laid her hand on the glass. Closed her eyes at the coolness of it. "A little more than a year, and I'll be dead anyway." She turned back to Setsuna, dropping her glamor, so that the Plutonian Queen was looking at her, really looking at her. The Serenity that would have been Queen. "I'm tired Sets. And broken in ways I'd never imagined. So Goddess help me. I'm going to go out with a fucking bang that rocks the stars."

Setsuna looked pained. But she bowed. "As you wish Hime."

Serenity passed her hand over her face, and brought back the glamor that she'd worn, brushing her hair behind her ear. She picked up a small silver purse and strode past the Guardian of time, and as she passed her, said with a smile; "Tell Hota I'll be home late, won't you?"

...

Setsuna stood there for a moment. She didn't turn. Didn't move. Just peered at her own distorted reflection in the window of Serenity's dressing room and sighed. "Do you see what you've done to her now?" She asked aloud. Though she doubted highly, the person she was speaking to was listening. Doubted they cared. Serenity had always been a plaything. Setsuna's only guess was that she hadn't outlived her usefulness yet. Because she'd certainly outlived her sanity. Her purity. She was right. It only took so long. A millenia or two could do that to a person.

"Amity?" Gianni opened the door to silence, and a peculiar wind that traveled from one end of the room to other. The scent was unfamiliar. Honey and cloves. But the room was empty. He shrugged. "Guess she left. Again." He said, and shut the door softly.

Atop a highrise miles away, the Guardian of Time stood, Staff in hand. And with pain in her heart, she watched.

...

"Hey." He turned to the sound of her voice behind him, smiled.

"For a moment there I thought you'd stood me up." He said. In true gentleman's fashion, he took the few steps to the passenger side door of the mustang, and opened the door, gesturing for her to get inside. She did so smoothly, sliding into the leather seat like the car was her own. He shut the door and moved to his own, sliding in and starting the car again with it's satisfying purr.

"Nice car." She looked genuinely appreciative.

"It's a friend's." He answered automatically. Lying escaped him these days. It was really and honestly true. He hadn't had it in him to lie to anyone since that day. Omit? Oh hell yes. But never lie.

"He has amazing taste." She said softly. He smiled winningly.

"I tell him that all the time." He laid his hands on the steering wheel. "So, where would you like to go?"

She didn't look up. Didn't look at him, for a long moment, and he wondered if he'd said something wrong. But then her brilliant eyes turned to his, and she reached a hand over to lay it upon his thigh. "Anywhere."

He smirked. "I think I know just the place." And trying as hard as he could to get the image of Serenity out of his head, to focus on the lovely thing that was in his passenger seat, he put the car in drive.

...

"It's lovely here." She said. She wasn't lying. It truly was. He'd taken her to a remote beach. One she'd actually never been to, in this lifetime anyways. It was silent in the night. Save a few hoots and hollers from a rowdy group of teenagers down the way.

"I like to visit when I come here." He said. He was laid out on his back on the hood of the dark green Mustang, with his hands tucked under his head, staring up at the sky. It hurt her heart, in ways she'd never imagined it would hurt again. To see him like that. As she'd seen him so many times before.

"So you're on vacation then?" She was fighting to keep her voice even.

"You could say that." The natural avoidance of the question was not lost on her. He turned his eyes to her, and smirked, sitting up. "I almost forgot." He slid off the hood of the car, and moved to the driver's seat, opening the door and reaching in behind the seat. He pulled out a bottle of her favorite bourbon. Knob Creek. It wasn't cheap. It was imported from America, and only Moon Lit Night and the most prestigious bars stocked it. Gianni stocked it almost solely for her. "Ari... was it? He said this was your favorite." he handed her the bottle and produced two glasses. It was cold.

He held the glasses as she poured, and when she was done she set the bottle next to the car, and he rejoined her atop the hood. "This your friend's too?" She raised a teasing eyebrow. He caught the comment with flair.

"He's a nice person. He'd pay for anything if I asked. Good Inheritance. But no, the bourbon is on me."

"Good job?" She asked. The question was unneeded. She knew what he did. Who his friend's were. Not long ago, after the Eve wars, their faces had been plastered all over the TV. It was the first time she'd learned he was still alive. No doubt the 'friend' he spoke of was Quatre Raberba Winner. The wealthiest man in the colonies.

"You could say that." He said again with a smirk. He raised his glass to hers, clinking them together before taking a sip. She took one of her own, finding comfort in the taste. She was shaking. But he didn't seem to notice. "I'm more interested in learning about you, than talking about me. For instance. It's obvious you speak Japanese, you have the accent. But your English is flawless."

"I was born here." It wasn't a lie. A few times, she had been. Though not in this life. "My parents moved me to the states when I was 2, and when I was eighteen, I came back."

"To the red light district?" He raised an eyebrow this time, and she laughed despite the fluttering in her stomach, the fresh pain in her chest. Right here. He was right here in front of her. And it would hurt to let him go again. She forced herself to enjoy the moment, and answered.

"Yes and No." She took a hearty sip of the bourbon to wet her dry mouth. " I guess I just kind of ended up there. After a long road." She looked him in the eye, Indigo against Sunrise. " When I laid things out, it didn't look like there was anywhere left for me to go. My parents died in the war. I had to make my own."

"Forgive me for saying, but you seem to be doing alright." His voice was somber, and for a moment she hated him for it. She turned away from him and smiled instead of striking out, and took another hearty sip, swirling the alcohol in the glass to keep her hands busy.

"Yeah." She said softly, and failed miserably in keeping her voice from breaking. He sat up then, and moved closer to her. Just this proximity hurt. She looked him in the eye again, and her vision drifted slowly to his lips. Maybe Sets had been right. Maybe this was a step too far. She was teetering on the edge, and the only person she wanted to catch her; Goddess the person right in front of her... Only thought she was a Red Light Whore. She'd covered her tracks. Duo Maxwell couldn't be anything but sure that Serenity was dead. She'd made it so for a reason.

His hand reached out, and then it was on her cheek, and she leaned into it. It didn't matter. Because Serenity was dead. And whether or not he knew, She did. And though it threatened to tear her into more pieces than she knew how to manage, she needed this. When he leaned in, she did not pull away. And when their lips met. Her heart soared and broke into a million tiny pieces at the same time.

He pulled back quickly, and she couldn't help the slight moan of disappointment. She could face it. She loved the punishment. If only to have him right now. She'd deal with the consequences later. "I'm sorry." He said, but his voice was thick, gruff. Like she remembered. It made her want him more.

"Don't be." She whispered, with a small smile. It was real, for once. It felt good. Felt horrible. She raised her hand to his cheek this time, shivered at the feeling, and then moved it to the back of his neck, pulling him close and capturing his lips in a kiss that spoke of all her need. He responded with emotion that matched her own, and she didn't realize the tears were rolling down her face until she could taste them, salty and sweet.

He pulled back again, and she wiped them hastily. "Did I...?"

"No." She cut him off, smiling. "No." She brought the glass of bourbon back to her lips with shaky hands, gulping down what was left at the bottom. It was warm. When she had finished, she took his hand in her own, and looked into his eyes, deeper than she dared. "I just..." She smiled and hoped he wouldn't catch it not reaching her eyes. "Can we go... somewhere more comfortable?"

The smile he flashed at her mended her heart and broke it all over again. "Yeah." he said, jumping off the hood and helping her down. He placed a quick, chaste kiss on her lips, leaving her burning. "Hop in."

...

They fumbled into the hotel room. He'd gone all out. There was a king sized bed, covered in satin, a jacuzzi, and a mini-bar. But she barely saw the decor before she was tearing at his clothes. The ride in the car had been tense. She hadn't been able to keep her hands off of him. The Hotel Employee that had checked them in had gone as far as to wish them a Happy Honeymoon. In another life... she'd thought. Then; No. Never.

His mouth was hard on hers, and she ignored the pain in her back as he shoved her against a wall, grinding into her with need. Finally, the last button, and she was given access to his smooth, hard chest. He was built so well. He always had been. He helped her toss it away, and she groaned at the loss of his mouth on hers when he lifted both shirts over her head in expert fashion.

This wasn't his first rodeo. It hurt to know, but only for a moment. It was okay. It wasn't hers either. He returned his lips to hers with a ravenous hunger, and she opened to him willingly, loving and hating herself for it. He lifted her easily, and brought her to the bed without breaking the searing kiss they shared.

She fought with the button on his slacks, and he broke the contact of their lips to help her. Instead of pulling them down however, he moved to remove the black bra she wore, and then undid her pants as well, sliding them down and tossing them away. She only found out why when he finally shed them, revealing nothing underneath. She almost laughed, but it came out a heated groan when he grasped her nipple between his teeth firmly. She'd always pictured him as a boxers man.

The rest of the night was lost to insane pleasure and need. He wasted no time in removing what little clothing she had left, and when he finally entered her, after all the teasing, touching and tasting, her heart could have stopped with the emotion that welled inside her alone. Part of her wished for it.

There was pain. But she couldn't figure from where. Her heart, her body, it didn't matter. All that mattered was at that moment, in that moment, he belonged to her and only her. And when it was over, when the searing passion had brought them both to an explosive eclipse, she was fulfilled and empty at the same time. Her hands were tangled in his hair, and his in hers. She lay half on top of him, her head resting on his chest just over his heart.

"I'm sorry." He said, and she couldn't help the smile that spread across her lips. Even if it hurt. He'd never changed. She raised her head to stare into his beautiful indigo eyes, trying to capture the moment.

"Whatever for?" She was breathless. He untangled one hand from her hair, and for a moment, he looked abashed. She already knew what he was going to ask. She had succeeded in fooling the only person besides Hota and Sets that she'd ever confided in; into believing she was a whore. And it hurt think because even though he had no idea she was Serenity. It was true. "Don't." She didn't want his money. Only his time. One last time. She put a finger to his lips, and moved her hand smoothly to his cheek, enjoying the surprise in his eyes. "Please don't ruin this for me."

His eyes softened, and he returned the hand to her hair, pulling her face up so he could kiss her. It was less needy now. Sweet and soft. It made her ache for more. "You're going to be gone in the morning." He didn't seem unduly bothered by it. But the fact that he'd said it aloud meant something. She liked the rumble in his chest when he spoke.

"Yes." She said. Because she didn't want to lie. She searched his eyes, disappointed when she found nothing. So the years had been hard to him too. She used to be able to read everything in his eyes. This hurt too. She was tearing herself apart for this memory.

"And I won't see you again." Her heart clenched in her chest so tight she was sure he could feel it.

"No." It came out colder than she'd meant it to. Because in that moment, staring into his empty eyes, the chill crept back in. She couldn't stay. It had been a blessing to have even this. She was fooling herself if she thought there could be a happy ending. She was Amity. She wasn't Serenity. She couldn't be. Not for him. This one night with Amity would have to do. And he'd never even know. Was it fair? She convinced herself quickly it did not matter. She shied away from him, but he pulled her back, kissing her again, so soft, nibbling lightly on her lip. It pained her more because of it.

"I want you to stay." Goddess. She was breaking. But still, she found a morbid humor in it. It had been her, so many years ago, begging him to stay. Pleading. "You're the first one since..." She waited, but he couldn't say it. This time she felt his chest tighten, and now she was sure he'd felt hers do so as well. "Since a long time ago, who made me feel like this." He finished the sentence miserably.

For a moment, she debated on telling him who she really was. Debated on explaining how she'd faked her own death, ran and hid. But that very thought stopped her. He was the reason Serenity was dead. And it wasn't the reason she'd told herself all these years. It wasn't because he'd left her alone. He'd been justified in his own right. He'd left because he wanted to keep her safe. Because the sweet, innocent Serenity he'd left behind couldn't be a part of the world he was diving into. She couldn't tell him. Because she loved him too God Damned much. Just like he hadn't been able to tell her he was becoming a Gundam Pilot.

He didn't know how right he was when he'd said it was 'Easier this way.' Because the hard truth was that it was. It had taken her a long time. But what could she offer him? A few good years. And a death far too young. He'd thought staying would mean hurting her. But the truth was in the end she'd only hurt him. He was the culmination of everything she'd ever wanted. Everything she'd ever needed since the loss of Mamoru and the girls so many millenia ago. The only person she'd loved really and truly, besides Hotaru and Sets. But how, Goddess how, did you tell the man you loved more than yourself that you had lived a thousand lives? And that there was no way to prevent your eventual expiration? She just couldn't. Always the self-sacrificial one, she locked what she wanted to say behind painfully pursed lips.

She didn't bother to try and stop the tears. She smiled through them. He wouldn't understand the true meaning behind them anyways. She let them fall, warm and wet, to his chest, and relished the soothing touch of his hands over her naked back. "Don't ask me to." She whispered, when she felt she could trust her voice again. "Please."

He buried his nose in her hair, and inhaled her. She could feel his breath on her ear when he spoke. "I don't wanna lose this." The levy broke. Her heart shattered into a million pieces. With every touch, every breath, he was putting her back together and breaking her again. And she didn't know if she could stand it.

"You won't." She said finally. Because she needed some peace. She untangled her hands from his hair and laid them over his heart, setting her head atop them. She loved the sound of his heart beating. She hated the look in his eye. "I'll be right here."

"Amity..." Pain. Shooting searing pain. She closed her eyes tight to try to stem the tears. It wasn't the name she wanted to hear.

"I can't stay Duo." She whispered, and smiled. "I can't." She took a deep breath, and pushed herself up, leaning down quickly to kiss him before standing. She walked over to the bar and retrieved two glasses, filling them with the complimentary ice that was already melting. The bourbon was warm now. She poured both glasses to the brim, and carried them back to the bed with her. He sat up to take his, and she curled up next to him, clinking her glass with his before taking a strong gulp. It burned and soothed at the same time.

She smiled as he drained half his glass, and she smiled back, and they both knew it wasn't alright. Her urge to ease the pain in his eyes didn't win. She tipped her glass back and lost herself in the warmth of him. The warmth of the alcohol. When she rose to get the second glass, she couldn't stop the dry sob, though he seemed not to hear. He looked drowsy already, spent physically and emotionally. She knew the feeling. His eyes were closed, but his breathing wasn't the even breathing of sleep.

With hate for herself in her heart, she dropped a small pill in his glass, one that had been hidden in one of the rings she wore, refilled it with ice and bourbon, and watched it dissolve as she poured her own glass. She brought this, their last glass to the bed, and smiled at his mumbled thanks before he drank it. When he had gone limp, and his breathing had slowed, she took the glass from his hands, setting it on the bedside table. In the dark, she finished her glass beside him, drinking him in one last time with her eyes.

When she was done, and sure the alcohol had made it so she could manage, she rose, picking up his pants and fishing out his cell phone. When she flipped it open, she had intended to call a cab, but curiosity got the better of her at the sight of 12 unread messages. She opened the first with shaking, guilty hands.

:Duo. Omae O Korosu.2 We got a lead on the girls. A tip that they might be located at a club called Moon Lit Night. When you wake from your drunken stupor, meet us there.: :Hiiro

She almost dropped the phone. Her eyes traveled to him, laying prone there on the bed, and the coldness crept in like a blizzard. "Maybe this won't be our last drink." She said, with a cynical smile. Her face was dry, though her heart wept.

She rang the cab, and placed his phone back where it had been, not surprised when she felt the heft of a knife in the adjacent back pocket. She'd been so taken with him she hadn't noticed it before. It was another reason she couldn't stay. He was a distraction. Slowly, she dressed, and gathered her things. Pouring herself one last glass of bourbon and draining it immediately, warm. The ice had long since melted into a puddle. Setting the glass down, she reached into her purse and pulled out a clean pad, and a pen. She scribbled down a message she knew he'd understand, just five words in bright red ink, and before she left, she leaned down to whisper in his ear.

"I love you Duo Maxwell."

...

He woke with a headache that pounded, still drowsy. He knew enough to know what had happened. The bitch had fucking date raped him. He expected to find his wallet gone. His knife, anything, but when he shifted himself up and tugged his pants to the bed, everything was still there. He checked himself over, but the only bruises were the ones he remembered, the ones he'd sustained in their passionate frenzy. He'd been drunk then, but clearer than this.

He rubbed his hands over his eyes, groaning. Man the guys were going to be pissed. He fished his cell phone from his back pocket and flipped it open, his tired eyes widening when he saw the text messages he'd missed, and the one that had been opened that he didn't remember opening himself. And then he saw it.

Right next to him, a lone piece of paper scrawled with red ink. The handwriting looked familiar. "It Was Easier This Way." He read it aloud, and his heart lurched in his chest. "Fuck." The guys were going to be really pissed. He'd had one of them in his arms last night, and he hadn't even known it. "Fuck."

He fell back into the bed, onto his back, and stared up at the ceiling. "So that was why you couldn't stay." He rubbed his hands over his face hard, trying to wake himself up. "Heh. Good Reason." And though he was pissed, he couldn't help breathing her scent in from the sheets one last time before he roused himself and got moving. The next time he saw her, they'd be enemies. Whether he liked or not. B.O.T.A. never failed a mission. Not with Hiiro around. And she was right at the top of the list.

He flipped open his phone and pressed one button. The voice on the other end sounded worried, and he smiled despite himself. :Duo, where the hell are you? Are you okay?:

"I'm fine Quatre. Humbled in fact. Get forensics to room 443 at the Hilton : Tokyo. And don't let Wufei or Hiiro bring weapons, or I won't be anything but full of holes and cut to pieces." He flipped the phone closed, and got a new glass from the bar, filling it with lukewarm bourbon. With a sardonic smile on his lips, he took his first sip, and waited.

...

_**Chapter two, finito. So Serenity has crossed paths with the figure from her past, none other than Gundam Pilot 02, Duo Maxwell. Can she outrun the B.O.T.A? Does she even want to? Find out in the next chapter of Mona Lisa.**_

_** :**_

_**For those who didn't know...**_

_**1 : Onnas : Women**_

_**2: Omae O Korosu : I'll Kill You**_


	3. Chapter Three : To The Bitter End

_**Disclaimer:**_** I do not and never will own any right to Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. Though I fervently wish I did. However this story, it's general plot-line, all of it's original characters do belong to me. Go on, try to sue. I think I've got some lint and a few quarters in my purse.**

_**...**_

_**:Mona Lisa:**_

_**...**_

_It didn't matter if I did or didn't care. It hurt to know that. Hurt to know that there was so little I could do. I love her with all my heart, every fiber. I always had, and always would. And if there was anything I could do, I wouldn't let it end like this. Problem was, it had ended so many times before. And even with the best of my determination, I had no idea how I was going to stop it._

_**...**_

_**:Chapter Three : To The Bitter End:**_

**...**

"You could knock." She repeated the same thing Serenity had said to her hours before. The person behind her did not speak, did not move, but she could smell her. The faint breeze that mysteriously followed her lifted up Hotaru's hair. Honey and Cloves. She turned her violet eyes towards the intruder, a light smile upon her lips. "It's nice to see you Sets." Setsuna still did not move from the place she stood, looking odd among the modern decor. It was strange every-time, seeing her in the uniform she and Serenity hadn't been able to materialize in a millenia or more. "Are you really just going to stand there?"

Setsuna smiled softly. "No. Is it so wrong to like looking at you sometimes, little firefly?" Hotaru's smile widened just a bit.

"What, you think I'm going to spontaneously combust or something?" She asked, throwing her legs up over the arm of the chair she was in and leaning back, her eyes playful. "Could happen. Hasn't yet."

"I think you know why I'm here." Hotaru shrugged.

"What is it with this new idea that I'm psychic?" The joke didn't work on Setsuna, so Hotaru frowned, sighed, and said; "What would you like me to do Sets? After all this time you think I can ask her to stop? To slow down? What the hell for? We live and we die. Over and over. As far as I'm concerned she can do whatever the fuck she wants."

"You wouldn't stop if I told you to. She wouldn't." Setsuna said, and Hotaru smiled despite the air of tension in the room. "I have told you that you were going to get caught and killed if you weren't careful. Life after life. But neither of you seem to care." She wasn't looking at Hotaru, rather towards the window, a horizon of city lights. She breathed in and out deeply, and only then did her garnet eyes meet Hotaru's deep violet. "There are many, many paths to the future. Nothing is ever set in stone."

"I disagree." She said softly. "The eventual end, that is always set in stone." Setsuna's eyes softened, but Hotaru could not guess the emotion there. It was somewhere between pity and remorse.

"If I could..." Setsuna cut herself off, as if she didn't know where to go with the sentence. After all these years, what more was there to say? Hotaru sighed, and stood, ruffling her own hair and blowing her bangs out of her eyes before speaking.

"I know Sets. But you can't." Setsuna's eyes were soft. It bothered Hotaru without reason she could place. Perhaps it was because she'd seen eyes like that too many times over the years. Sometimes on her, sometimes on Serenity. She tired of those eyes. "And you know Ren and I would rather do this... over and over again. Then have you condemn yourself to help us."

"Aishiteru Firefly."1 She whispered, and the tone was something that made Hotaru turn away. It hurt to hear the distress in the Time Guardian's voice.

"I hate when you talk like that." She knew she had heard her words, like she also knew the Senshi of Pluto would not be standing there when she turned around. "And I hate when you disappear like that." She sighed, and fell back into the chair she'd been previously occupying, not bothering to brush the short, spiky strands of black hair out of her eyes this time.

As if they didn't have enough on their plates. They'd finally found the target Serenity wanted dead more than anyone. And that man Serenity had left with... the memory she'd never had the heart to share. Hotaru knew him. How could she not? His face had been plastered all over every TV screen not too long ago, along with the faces of the rest of the Gundam Pilots. Of course he had to pop his head in at this time. She pinched the bridge of her nose.

Everything was falling apart. It wasn't something she wasn't used to. It was something she wished didn't happen every lifetime. When she looked back, it was hard to remember the ones that did. Some started bad, some good. But most ended horribly. You couldn't have the minds, the knowledge that people like she and Serenity had without it affecting you. They'd seen generations, civilizations, entire countries rise and fall. They'd seen horrors no one person should see. A thousand times over. Maybe more. And always this deadline. Only a certain amount of time to make what impacts they could. There was never a question of relaxing. It was something that didn't need to be said. They'd never been able to sit back and do nothing. Fighting was in their blood.

It changed from lifetime to lifetime. The jobs they laid out for themselves. More than once it had caused their untimely deaths. But then, all their deaths were untimely. And she knew, although the Guardian of Time was not allowed to interfere, watching them break, bit by bit, was tearing her apart as well. This life had been crueler than most. She'd lost her parents at a young age. To the Eve War, in fact. She'd only been nine at the time. It was at that point she took to the shadows. It didn't take long. Six months later, Serenity found her.

Her eyes had been darker than she remembered. Not the bright silver they'd been a lifetime ago, but a deep grey that spoke louder than Serenity dared of her experiences. She didn't ask. She didn't need to. But it was terrifying. To see the one light she'd counted on to lead her through the dark burn so low. It had been then that Serenity told her their mission for this lifetime. To take out everything that slipped through the Preventers fingers. To take out one person in particular.

It had taken her a long time to say it. To admit it. To say his name out-loud. The person they searched for was a face they knew well. But in this lifetime, he carried a different name. Seth Corrodin. The almost perfect reincarnation of Mamoru Chiba.

**...**

She closed the door softly behind her, but she should have known that Hotaru would not be sleeping. Bright Violet eyes stared at her over the back of her favorite chair. She'd bought the chair just for the girl she'd taken in as a sister. She'd have to track down the company that manufactured them. Because now, there was no way they could stay.

"We're leaving." She said it as evenly as she could. Her heart was taking it's time mending, and she felt more torn than she should have.

"Now?" Hotaru asked. Serenity traveled to the liquor cabinet she'd had special made three years ago. Poured a perfectly chilled glass of Knob Creek.2 They'd been comfortable here. But it was time to leave it behind. She took a sip of the alcohol. It refreshed the buzz she'd been carrying with her since the hotel room. Calmed her.

"Now." She said after she swallowed. "It seems they've finally caught on. And they don't seem happy."

"The Preventers?" Hotaru asked. She still hadn't moved from her chair. Serenity could now see the book in her hands. Reading was what Hotaru used to relax. She looked at the glass in her hands. To each their own. She took another sip. Smacked her lips at the taste.

"Yeah." She said, knowing what was coming next.

"They sent the Gundam Crew didn't they?" Serenity closed her eyes for a long moment, trying to stem the emotion that forced itself up in her chest.

"Yeah." Hotaru rose from her chair, setting the book down. Serenity watched her look longingly at the cover for a moment. She made a mental note to remember the title. She'd have to buy it for the girl so she could finish it. Leaving meant they took nothing but the necessities. the book would be left behind.

"You never told me you knew Duo Maxwell." She said. Serenity's heart clenched in her chest. She sipped on the bourbon again.

"You never asked." She said simply. And was relieved when Hotaru left it at that, standing to travel to her room and gather the most important things. Her heart swelled with love for the dark-haired girl as she did the same, walking up the spiraling staircase to her room. She pulled a plain black duffel bag from her closet and rummaged through the room to gather a few changes of clothes, and all the weaponry she cherished. She changed into a pair of dark skinny jeans, and her favorite black and cheetah print sneakers. And paired then with a simple white tank-top and a tight black hoodie with one leopard print paw on the breast. When Rin was finally laid on top, she zipped the bag closed, and hefted it over her shoulder.

When she arrived back downstairs, Hotaru was already waiting. She'd changed into simple black leggings with a long black tank. Paired with a tight grey vest that only went mid-torso, and black flats. It made her look demure. But when traveling it was what she preferred.

"Where are we going?" Hotaru asked, as Serenity picked up the keys to their fastest transport and tossed her a pair.

"Hiroshima, for now." Serenity said, draining the last of her glass before scanning the room one last time. "We need to regroup. Where is he?"

"He's here in Tokyo." Hotaru said. "And won't be moving anytime soon." She swung the key ring around her fingers once, and caught them in her palm with a short jingle. "It's never easy, is it?"

Serenity smiled, looking around the room one last time. Tried to make sure that she'd taken everything she needed. "It never will be." She said softly. She opened the door, and Hotaru scooted past her. She had two bags over her shoulder. One that held her clothes and other weapons, and one, Serenity knew held her prized possession. A weapon Serenity had made for her. It had taken two years to track down a suitable weapons master. "I'm gonna miss this place." She said, closing the door with a soft click behind her. She didn't bother to lock it. They could look through what they wanted when they found this place. All they needed was a little more time.

"Yeah." Hotaru said, as Serenity followed her soft footfalls through the hallway and down the stairs. "Me too." She tried not to think about it. But her heart was breaking again. It told her without words, that this was the beginning of the end.

...

"So what did you find?" He realized Hiiro was still pissed when all he got was a cold glare, and turned half-laughing, half pleading eyes to Quatre, who smiled before speaking.

"The name matches the owner of a condo on the south side. But if she realizes who you are she won't be there. It says something about her character that she didn't kill you in your sleep."

"Would have saved me the trouble." Wufei grumbled from behind him. He rolled his eyes. He'd been defending himself from those quips since they'd arrived.

"It could have happened to anyone." He protested sourly. Quatre laughed, at least. Wufei snorted. Something he only did when he was disgusted and amused at the same time.

"Things like this only happen to bakas like you."

"Oh come on Wu-man. You shoulda seen her. She was gorgeous. I bet she could have loosened your ponytail." Wufei sent him a glare, and he laughed. It was just too easy to mess with them. "So." He said when he'd finished. "Whats the game plan?"

"We go to the condo." Quatre said. "And see if we can gather any clues. It's our only move. Forensics said the girl's fingerprints are untraceable. And we have no information on her partner. Amity Lelaine has only existed for Five years, as far as Hiiro has traced back. And he is thorough. She has another name. We just need to find it."

"Let's get going then." Duo said. He ignored Quatre's look of disapproval when he grabbed the remainder of the bottle of bourbon. "What?" He said with a broad smile. "I paid for this."

...

"I must admit I'm impressed." Trowa said, his baritone ringing off the walls of the empty condo. "There's nothing here." He walked down the spiral stairs that led back to the main room. He and Wufei had searched the room of what seemed to be 'Amity's' partner. "There was little to speak of but well read books and a few random weapons. And her fingerprints haven't shown up anywhere else so far."

"They're like fucking ghosts." Duo said. "Nice liquor cabinet. Must have been hard to leave all this behind."

"It doesn't seem like it." Quatre said. "They didn't take much from what we can tell. Some clothes, as the drawers were ruffled through. We found a few empty gun cases. They had quite a collection. There are keys here for an SUV that the forensics team confirmed has not left it's space. They had to have taken some other form of transport. And this book." Quatre picked it up, opening it to a page that still held a plain black bookmark and showing it to his comrades. " One of them didn't even finish reading it. You were right with your first statement Duo. They are like ghosts. I think they had no problem leaving it all behind. they even left the door unlocked for us."

"I need my laptop." Hiiro said from the corner of the room. Quatre nodded his head.

"Our best bet is to head back to base and gather information. Something might pop up." He turned for the door, and giving one last longing look towards the liquor cabinet, Duo followed with the others. Part of him was still angry. The other part confused. But he pushed it down into the never-ending abyss in his chest, and tried to focus.

The encounter with the girl known as Amity Lelaine had served as motivation. He still didn't quite see the point of chasing after a hot broad that was doing their job for them, but it was personal now. Shinigami didn't enjoy being played. And, you never knew. This mission might have just become that much more enjoyable.

...

"It's a little dusty." Hotaru said, brushing a thick layer of the offending stuff from a shelf with two fingers. The trip hadn't taken long, and was made faster by the cycles they both owned. They were parked outside now, the shiny blacks steeds in place of the power they'd once shared to teleport.

"We haven't been here for quite awhile." Serenity said. Hotaru watched her pull the sheets from one of the twin beds in the small, abandoned apartment, reaching into the closet beside it to replace it with new, less dusty ones. When she was finished she pulled out a comforter, kicked off her shoes and peeled off her hoodie, and fell back into it. "I need sleep." She said simply.

Hotaru fought the urge to roll her eyes. What she really needed to be was sober. She was having a hard time pretending not to notice how torn up her comrade was. Physically and mentally. The girl had no problem hiding it from anyone else, but Hotaru could see her breaking. There was nothing they could hide from each-other. Only things omitted, for respect's sake. Serenity was asleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow.

It gave Hotaru time to muse. To wonder at the relationship between her Hime and the Gundam pilot Duo Maxwell. She'd called him a memory. He was obviously a painful one, if the lost look in Serenity's eyes had anything to do with it. And Hotaru was sure it did. Barely, these days, did her emotion show.

She picked a chair in the corner and fell into it, ignoring the dust that flew up and into the air. Her orchid eyes focused on the sleeping form of Ren, her best friend. Her only love in the mad cycle they traveled together. Soon they'd go after Seth. And Hotaru feared that once that was over, it wouldn't be long before she'd lose her light again. It was something that burned like molten lava in her heart every-time. She knew, that the few times she'd expired first, Ren felt it too. Their connection was bored to the soul. They could feel each-others death as if it were their own. A few times... the pain had killed her. But once she'd gotten used to it, once it had become so repetitive it was numbing, she was most often left alone with the pain. These were days of seclusion. Of quiet thought and shadows. She'd always felt alive in the dark, but without Serenity it was pitch. Without any release but her eventual death. And now it was coming sooner than she liked. They'd been born so far apart this time.

The realization was a sudden jump to her heart. She slowed her breathing with a practiced, calming method, forcing it back to normal. She couldn't let it end this way. The idea wasn't fully formed yet, just a tiny voice in the back of her head that begged to be heard. "I won't let it end like all the times before Ren." She whispered to her sleeping friend. "Even if I have to stop the whole world."

...

His head hurt. The hangover that he had been waiting for had finally reared it's ugly head. He'd chased it away with bourbon all day, but when the bottle had run out so had his time. He pressed two fingers to each temple, and groaned. He supposed he deserved it. The hangover anyway.

The rest...? Well he could handle just leaving it at the fact that the fates were obviously cruel. A week. There was only a week left til the anniversary of the biggest regret he remembered. And after trying to drown himself in alcohol and a warm body, it had only been made worse. The guys were less pissed than he'd thought they would be. He chalked it up to the fact that without his mishap they wouldn't be as close to finding the girls as they were now. However the thought remained that he wasn't quite sure if he was happy about that or not. He'd not felt something that strong since her. The blonde angel he'd left behind.

"Ahhh." He hissed as his head pounded, and fell unceremoniously back onto the bed in his room. The guys were currently gathering what information they could on the mysterious female vigilantes. Quatre had taken pity on him and told him to go get some rest. Though it was also true that when it came to reconnaissance he had no patience.

He squinted his eyes at the light that suddenly flooded his room, trying to focus on the blurry countenance of the person who entered. "Hiiro." He said, not getting up or removing his fingers from his aching temple. "Have you come to shoot me? Because I'm starting to think that might be my best option to escape this pain right now." He'd said it jokingly, but the tone in Hiiro's voice took all humor out of the room.

"You're usually half-way around the world right now." He said, and Duo was shocked into complete stillness, staring up at the ceiling. "I didn't forget, you know."

Slowly, Duo pushed himself to a sitting position, opting to use one hand to hold himself up, and the other to stem the pounding in his head. He stared at his closest friend through one squinted eye. The light was making his head pound harder. He'd almost forgotten that time, so many years ago, when Hiiro had pinned him to a wall.

It had been a year after the Eve wars. And a week after he'd found out that the Angel he left behind would no longer be waiting for him. She was dead. And though the anniversary was close, it had not quite yet arrived. He'd been planning to go back to her. They had just finished a mission that had left him with three bullet holes, and though they had all noticed his carelessness, it was Hiiro, of all people, who had called him out on it.

_ "What the fuck is your problem?" He couldn't stop the smile that spread across his face, even through the pain of being slammed against the concrete wall. He'd been drinking since noon, but it wasn't stemming as much of the pain as he hoped it would. It was however, making everything more amusing._

_ "Not sure what you're getting at buddy." Hiiro shoved him harder against the wall, and he groaned this time. "That hurt."_

_ "Not nearly as bad as it's going to if you don't answer me." Hiiro threatened, Duo smiled again. _

_ "Nice to know you care so much." His hands traveled to Hiiro's wrists, and he spoke evenly, though the smile still lingered on his lips. "I'd be better persuaded however, if you'd let me sit down." Hiiro let him go reluctantly, and he hobbled to a chair, falling into it with a huff._

_ "You almost got yourself killed." Hiiro said. his arms were crossed, and his icy blue eyes caught with Duo's, so stern that he had a hard time looking away._

_ "Jeez is this what having a Dad is like?" Duo asked. Hiiro did not look amused. He sighed heavily, looking down at the floor. "I lost her okay?"He said, looking back up, not bothering to hide the distress anymore. If he wanted it, he was going to get it all. "She's fucking dead."_

_ "Who the hell are you talking about Duo?" Hiiro's voice was the same cold monotone, but Duo knew him well enough to hear the echoes of sympathy beneath._

_ "Serenity Maclaine." He let his head roll back, blinking, and staring at the ceiling. "The only thing I ever loved." For a moment there was silence, and Duo almost expected Hiiro to just walk away. He knew how stupid it was, to fawn after something lost. How stupid it was to jump in front of a bullet to mask the pain._

_ "How?" He was mildly surprised, and was sure it showed in his eyes when he turned them back to Hiiro. Hiiro's eyes were even, and he was waiting._

_ "A car crash." Duo said softly. he hung his head again. "I just keep thinking if I'd taken her with me, if i had been there to protect her..."_

_ "You know as well as I do how stupid that is." Hiiro said, but there was no harshness to his tone. "If you had taken her with you, she'd probably be dead anyways. It's a miracle we aren't. And if you had stayed... All of us needed to be there to win those wars Duo. And getting yourself killed isn't going to bring her back."_

_ "Have you ever lost anything Hiiro?" Duo asked, almost awed by the moment they were sharing._

_ Hiiro had a hint of cynicism in his eyes that Duo did not miss. He wondered if the other guys could read him like he could. "I've never had anything to lose." He said, and turned to stride out the door, leaving Duo to his own devices._

"You need to focus Duo." Hiiro said, almost softly. Almost. It was in that moment that Duo realized how much he had missed them all. Maybe Hiiro most of all. The guy was closest thing to a best friend he'd had in a long time.

He pressed his fingers hard to the spots on his head that ached. "Hey buddy, I say after this, we all take a vacation somewhere nice. The beaches in Cali, or The Bahamas."

"Yeah." Hiiro said, and Duo was amazed to see the small smirk that turned up his comrade's lip. "Maybe. Just make sure there is an after this."

"There will be Hiiro." Duo said, smiling. "Shinigami can't die." Hiiro nodded, and satisfied, took his leave. Duo sighed in the sweet darkness, and the pain in his head ebbed slowly. A vacation after all this would be nice.

...

"Ren." Hotaru's voice came out harsher than she meant it to, but her frustration had been building, and it was reaching it's peak. Serenity turned her eyes to her slowly, a sheepish smile spread across her lips. "Don't fucking patronize me." Hotaru said, and Serenity looked humbled, before turning back to cleaning her gun.

There was the soft clicks of metal against metal as she reassembled and loaded Rin, and only when she was done did she speak. "What do you want me to say Hota?" She asked, busying herself with polishing the dark grey metal.

"Anything." Hotaru said, and pushed the urgency of her pleading into her voice. "You're never yourself this time of year, and then he shows up and you fucking fall apart. And don't even try to deny it. You think I can't see how badly you're broken? And to top it all off you failed to mention he was a fucking Gundam Pilot! I mean, Goddess, how long have you known?"

"Five years." Serenity said softly. "I didn't even know he was alive until he showed up on the TV screen. Heroes of the war. I never wanted him to leave, but I always knew he'd make it through." She set Rin down and sighed, turning in the swiveling chair at the desk so she could face Hotaru. Her hands were wrought with gunpowder and grease. She wrung them together as she spoke. "My parents were never around. My father in this life was a tactician for the war. My mother would have rather been drunk and fucking some stranger than pay attention. We lived on the Colony L2. And I was lonely. Longing for you. Waiting for you. And then I met him." She looked like the memory she was reliving in her head right now was pleasant. A small smile graced her lips as she spoke. "There was a church orphanage down the street, and I had gotten lost in the dark, trying to get away from one of my mother's recent boyfriends. He had a taste for girls my age. I hid beneath a tree next to the church. He was hiding in the boughs. I wasn't crying. I think I was beyond it. But when he leapt down in front of me I flinched. I was sure my mother's lover had found me."

Hotaru wasn't fazed. Not really. Lifetime after lifetime had been harsh and cruel. She herself knew the horrors. Yes, they were born with memories intact. But the powers, the extra speed and strength, the ability to glamor, the accelerated healing. They didn't usually develop until they were around thirteen. It didn't matter how much experience you culminated when you were a little girl. The strongest fighter always won the fight.

"He picked me up, and brought me inside. The Sister who ran the orphanage cleaned me up, made sure I was comfortable, and then he sat with me all night. When I met him, he didn't have a name. But he proclaimed himself Duo not long after. I spent all my time with him at the orphanage. A year passed, and everyday I loved him more. But then, Oz came. And Rebels with them. The rebels took the church for cover. I remember the tanks, the guns. And Duo came and told me that they would leave, if he'd steal a mobile doll for them. I begged him not to. But he went anyway."

Serenity smiled through the tears that were forming in her eyes. And Hotaru stayed silent. It wasn't her turn to speak this time. It was her turn to listen.

"I was only eight at the time. My powers were far from developing. And I worried and wondered. While he was gone, they destroyed Maxwell church. I was standing by the heat of the flames when he returned. He'd brought the Leo. Too late. Always too late. My poor, darling Duo. I don't think I'll ever forget the look on his face. And then, he told me he was leaving again. That he was going to war, that he was going to fight for revenge." She sighed, and a lone tear trailed a path down her cheek. "Again I begged him not to go. And when that didn't work, I begged him to take me with him. But we were so young... He left." Another tear. She wiped it hastily, smearing gunpowder and grease across her cheek in the process. "My father died not long after in the war. And my mother drank herself to death. So I left, and started searching for you."

"But you found Seth instead." Hotaru said softly. Serenity nodded slowly. It was something they'd encountered a few times. Something they didn't completely understand, but had a mild theory on. Back perhaps a thousand years, the senshi had started being 'recycled'. They had come into contact with a few of them so far. But they did not retain any memories as she and Serenity had. They were merely carbon copies physically. Rei had been a famous Jazz singer named Lorainia Moore two lifetimes ago. Four lifetimes ago, they'd met the prize female box-fighter Hara Poland. The exact reincarnation of Makoto. And so long back it was hard to remember, the child prodigy of violin, Marice Tenor. A very young Michiru. This lifetime it had been Mamoru who'd shown up. It had become obvious that their past lives as Senshi had no impact on their new lives.

"I thought that fate had finally been kind." Serenity whispered. Hotaru felt her heart clench. She knew the feeling. "But what he was doing... that wasn't Mamoru."

"I know the rest." Hotaru said. "You don't have to repeat it again." Serenity had told her long ago what he had become. Serenity was twelve when she met him. He had been nineteen. And she'd been so enraptured with him she didn't care. For awhile, it was as if he was her little sister, but then the beatings started. The rape. And then he started selling her like he sold all the other young girls he found on the street. During the wars, there had been so many strays for him to manipulate. She'd waited until her power came back, broken her chains and ran. Two years later she'd shown up in the abandoned building Hotaru had been hiding in.

She remembered the long nights where she and Serenity trained, calling back the motions their limbs knew all too well. And what Serenity did to get them money. Hotaru knew even then how broken she was. Setsuna had shown up a year or two later, with sad eyes and soft words. But she could not be there to care for them. Could not interfere or twist the timeline. So Serenity did what she had to, and kept them both afloat. Hotaru would follow her to the end for it. To the bitter, horrible end. She'd done it thousands of times before.

"There isn't much time." Serenity said, breaking Hotaru from her sorrowful reverie. There was the shuffle of her feet across the floor as she refilled her duffel bag with the weapons she had cleaned. "I won't miss."

Hotaru stood, pulling her own two bags to her shoulder with ease, and nodding. "You know I'll follow you to the bitter end Ren." She said softly, picking up the keys to her cycle and cutting off the jingle in her palm.

"I hope not Hota." Serenity said back, with a smile. Her tears were gone, but Hotaru could see the pain in her eyes. "It won't be pretty this time."

Hotaru had enough in her to muster a smile and a chuckle. "Oh Ren, is it ever?"

...

"What did you find?" He was leaning over Hiiro's shoulder and staring at the screen as it shifted from window to window and his fingers flew across the keys.

"I checked the bank account under Amity Leleaine. She drained it hours ago. But I'm honestly not sure what to make of this." Hiiro said, and then turned slightly to glare at his comrade. Duo got the point, raised his hands in apology and took a step back. Hiiro clicked a few keys and a picture showed up on screen. It was of a small girl, with short black hair and violet eyes. "This is the person the second set of fingerprints in the condo was matched to."

"Smart girl. Took it all in cash eh? What's the problem?" Duo asked. "We got one of em. What's our mystery girl's name?"

" Rukia Thine. The obit said she was fondly referred to as Firefly. The problem is, that this girl died B.C. Year 22."3 Duo sat down hard on the kitchen chair behind him.

"You're sure?" Hiiro turned the glare full on this time, and Duo raised his hands again reflexively. "Alright, you're sure. But how is that even possible?"

"That, I can't answer." Hiiro said. Duo ran his hand through his hair and breathed out slowly. This was just insane. If the girl had faked her death, she'd be over a hundred and fifty years old. Were they just that crafty? But how, in all hell, did they procure the fingerprints of a girl who had died over a hundred years ago? Was it possible to be reborn with someone else's fingerprints?

"So what do we do now?" He asked. Hiiro clicked two buttons on the laptop and stood, heading to the printer that was sitting on a table in the corner of the room. He grabbed the paper that erupted from it.

"We go to the club and ask questions." Duo couldn't help smiling.

"You and me, at a strip-club? Never thought I'd see the day." Hiiro glared at him before heading to his room to get ready, and Duo laughed after he called over his shoulder.

"You won't live to see tomorrow if you don't shut the fuck up." Now that, was his best friend. No question.

...

_**Hotaru and Serenity delve deeper in the darkness that is their everlasting their souls be saved? Forced to dispatch of a man they used to hold dear to their hearts, and running from the outstretching hands of the law, how long will it be before they have nowhere to hide? Don't forget to review!**_

_** :**_

_**For those who didn't know...**_

_**1 : Aishiteru Firefly : I love you Firefly**_

_**2 : This my most favorite bourbon... If, and only if you are old enough to drink.. Try it. It's smooth and perfectly aged. Yum.**_

_**3 : This will be explained in later chapters. You can't go through eons and not leave some sort of paper trail...**_

_**To my Reviewers:**_

_**MegaKat : I 3 you... and will update as soon as I can!**_

_**JPandS: Thank you! You made me blush.. lol. All my stories that are currently posted need to get to a certain point first... but there will be much more from me! :)**_


	4. Chapter Four : Monster

_**Disclaimer:**_** I do not and never will own any right to Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. Though I fevrently wish I did. However this story, it's general plotline, all of it's original characters do belong to me. Go on, try to sue. I think I've got some lint and a few quarters in my purse.**

_**...**_

_**:Mona Lisa:**_

...

_I knew they wouldn't understand. And maybe only for the pure fact that his name wasn't on the list. But I knew what he could do. What he had done. First hand. Yes, it was stupid. Reckless. But I couldn't let him live one more day. Not one more day, being the monster behind the face I'd once loved. If Mamo were here, he'd have begged me to do it. I am not sane, in any way, shape, or form. But I'm fucking justified._

_**...**_

_**:Chapter Four : Monster:**_

...

She didn't know how long it would be until they caught up. The Gundam boys weren't poised at the top for no reason. They were the best at what they did, and she and Hotaru no longer had the ability to disappear at will. She did know that if it came down to a fight, she'd die before she let them touch her charge.

She shook her head to clear it. She needed to focus right now. They were back in Tokyo. And currently moving through a hotel in full glamour, inching ever closer to the man she'd wanted dead since twelve years old. Hotaru had gotten information that he ran a brothel out of a hotel down the street. They wanted to be as close as possible when they made their move.

Hotaru looked like a pale pixie, her eyes sky blue and her hair short, cropped, and blonde. Serenity had chosen to color her hair a vibrant red. Hers was short too, shoulder length, and her eyes emerald green. When the room door had finally closed behind them, Hotaru dropped her glamour with a sigh, running her hand through her dark hair.

"What?" She asked when Serenity was caught smirking at her. "I don't make a good blonde." Serenity just smiled, setting her bag down and surveying the room. It wasn't bad. two twin beds, a desk, a TV. As well as a separate sitting room with a small kitchenette and a couch. She sat on one of the beds, and her glamour dropped as well. She raised an eyebrow at Hotaru's stare.

"What?" She asked. Hotaru shook her head.

"Nothing. Just, it's been a long time since I've seen you like that." Serenity brought her hands up to the long hair that cascaded over her shoulders now, stark molten silver. Her eyes had not been that same silver in quite some time. She knew instead, they were a deep charcoal grey.

"I've been Amity for a long time." She said, toying with the curls at the bottom of her long hair. "I guess it's about time to be Serenity again."

Hotaru set her bags down by the adjacent bed, and sat down as well. "That's good to hear." She leaned over to unzip the duffel bag, and pulled out a thin knife, unsheathing it and slipping it beneath her pillow. It was something morbid and amusing at the same time.

"Gomen-ne. Hotaru-chan." Serenity said, because suddenly she was, so very,very sorry. Hotaru looked at her with her thickly lashed violet eyes, and smiled.

"Never say you're sorry." She said, and stretched herself out on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. "Better to have you, than nothing. Better to learn than to be naive. Besides, I have a strong feeling that no matter the circumstance, this would be my life. It was always destined to be."

"The Light and the Dark." Serenity said, and she laid herself out on her bed too, copying Hotaru's position. The ceiling was that stucko stuff that pricked your hands if you touched it. It was a meaningless observation, a passing, distracting thought. "I have always wished for a normal life for you, my little love."

"And I have always wished to be right by your side." Hotaru said easily. "I guess my wishes are stronger." Serenity couldn't help cracking a grin. Goddess she loved her. It made things harder and easier at the same time. "So, now what?"

"We wait." She said, closing her eyes to the room around her. She could feel Hotaru next to her. A ball of black and swirling purple at the edge of her consciousness. It wasn't something she used often, her powers of empathy. She had long since learned how to block it all out. It was a useful but distracting tool. And as strong as hers was, it was better off pushed down, where it bothered her little. "He'll come out of hiding soon enough."

"And the boys?" She asked.

"Will catch up with us sooner or later." Serenity said. There was no question. She'd damned them with her selfishness. Given them a lead they'd not otherwise have had. But again, she thought. It mattered little. As long as Hota was safe, everything would be fine. She'd be dead in a little more than a year. She didn't tell Hotaru, because she knew she'd disagree, and strongly at that. But she fully intended to give herself up. She wasn't sure how she'd manage it yet, but she'd make sure Hotaru was free.

"Whatever you're thinking Ren." Hotaru said from the bed next to hers. "I suggest you stop now." Serenity sighed, and smiled, but kept her eyes closed.

"I thought you said you weren't psychic." She could feel the girl smiling from across the room. Heard her reach over to turn off the small light that lit the room they were in, flooding the room in darkness.

"I'm not."

...

"So babe, you were saying?" The attractive blonde giggled, and took another sip of the fruity drink he'd bought her himself. Hiiro looked moody and uncomfortable next to him, and he was enjoying every minute of it.

"Her name is Hota. As far as I know. Or at least that's what Amity always called her." She looked from him to Hiiro again, saying airily. "She's not in any trouble, is she? I always thought the customers Amity took home were kind of shady. And Hota was so young, we all worried at what Amity was doing with such a young thing... here of all places."

"She's part of an ongoing investigation." Duo said smoothly, sipping on his glass of bourbon. he looked up when a strong hand set on his shoulder, and looked up from his seat at a tall Italian, with shocking green eyes.

"Would you mind coming with me?" He asked, and his voice was thick with charm. Duo really had to work to hide a quick shot at Hiiro, who's hand traveled instantly to his gun. He tucked it away at Duo's pointed look, much to his relief, and stood with him. They followed the man to a lavish office in the back. When they had both taken seats, the man closed the door behind them, shutting out the sounds of the busy club. "My girls tell me you're looking for Amity."

"Yeah. We are." Duo said with a smile, draining the last of his bourbon and setting the glass on the man's broad mahogany desk.

"My girls also tell me you went home with her last night." Duo smiled brighter.

"That, is also true. But we didn't go home. We went to a hotel, and I woke up to an empty bed." The man smiled back.

"I've heard it's a common occurence. But Amity's not here. From what I hear, you were the last person to see her. She and Hota disappeared last night."

"So we've heard." Duo said with a chuckle. "And you are?"

"Alot closer to them than you." The man said. Duo knew fighting words when he heard them. "Is your friend mute or something?" Duo knew Hiiro was glaring without looking at him. The face on the man in front of him said it all. He put his hands up as soon as the click of Hiiro's magnum echoed through the room.

The man across the desk froze, the smile dropping from his face. "Look man," Duo said, the smile still on his lips as he slowly returned his hands to the arm of his chair. "I don't want trouble. But my friend here, he thrives on it." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his preventers badge. He didn't like doing it. He didn't like feeling like he was working for anyone. The badge only ever came out in instances when Hiiro... was being Hiiro. The man leaned over, looking at it quickly and nodding before her returned his gaze to the gun.

"Amity kept to herself. But she was one of my best workers. Brought in the most money. Hota would pop in and out. Young thing, dark hair. Amazing violet eyes. I had hopes she'd join the crew when she was old enough."

"Well aren't you a gem." Duo said, his smile hardening. "I doubt you'll get your wish. Not that it matters to me either way. Thanks for the help."

"You're welcome." The man said snidely, and Duo stood, patting Hiiro hard on the arm. It took his comrade a second, but he turned his best death glare on the man and returned his magnum to it's holster beneath his jacket. He slammed the door on his way out, but it didn't make him feel much better.

"Prick." He said when they had finally left the noise of the club behind. Hiiro waited for the valet to pull his car around, jumping in the driver's seat. Duo tipped the man, and climbed in as well. "What now?" He said when they had returned to the road.

"Laptop." Hiiro said. Duo sighed.

"Good. Then I'm taking a nap."

...

"What is it you're hiding from me love?" Hotaru tightened her grip around the staff of the weapon over her shoulder, and turned her brown eyes on Serenity's blue-green. Her favorite catsuit felt constricting at the moment. She had tied her hair up so it wouldn't fall in her eyes, but already wisps were escaping. She blew them away restlessly. Serenity wore a tight outfit as well, one Hotaru had fashioned for her herself. It was a tight corset like top, with skin tight leggings, all in black. Her arms were wrapped in gauzy black cloth from palm to elbow. They both wore knee high boots, laced tight.

"Is now really the best time to be asking me that?" She asked. Serenity smiled in return, moving a tendril of honey brown hair from her eyes with the barrel of her gun. They were currently navigating the hallways of the dark brothel. It was early morning, two days since they'd returned from Hiroshima, and it was quiet. Too quiet.

She moved her line of sight when a moan echoed down the hallway, and supressed a groan. Maybe not. "Well?" Her eyes turned back to Serenity. She looked her up and down and thought carefully before answering.

"Setsuna came to visit me the other day." Serenity didn't look surprised. She moved gracefully down the hallway and Hotaru followed, finding the cover of an empty room. The brothel Seth owned was like a maze. But she'd gotten some inside information that Seth made his home there, and after that it was simple to find a blueprint of the old hotel. Serenity had guessed at which room he was in. It was the largest. Set at the back of the hotel and only accessible by elevator.

"And?" Serenity pushed, taking the reprieve to continue the conversation.

"She worries." She watched for Serenity's reaction. It was relatively what she'd expected, a shake of her head, and a sigh.

"She was supposed to tell you I'd be home late." She said, calmly checking the ammo in Rin's clip.

"I'd already figured." Hotaru said, and busied her hands with checking the ammunition in her gun. "Ren... Are you with me?"

Serenity jammed the clip back into Rin with a loud click, smiling as she looked at Hotaru fondly. "To the end." She whispered, mildly surprised by her charge's question.

Hotaru smiled softly, gripping her own weapon over her shoulder and reveling in the familiar heft. "I wish that made me feel better."

...

"We're close." Hotaru's breath was short. Serenity quickly ripped a length of cloth from her arm. She'd asked Hotaru to make her outfit versatile in this way. Her eyes were soft at the hiss from Hotaru's lips as she pulled it tight around her thigh, where a bullet had burrowed itself deep in the flesh.

"I know." She said softly. "Which is why you're staying here." Hotaru's eyes blazed instantly. She'd known she was going to meet resistance.

"Like hell I am." She said, but when she tried to stand she faltered. Serenity smiled softly. She checked Rin's clip. Three bullets left. Sighing, she released it from the gun and produced a new one from Rin's holster. It was all she had left. They hadn't expected Seth to have quite so much security. Even the girls were toting.

"You'll only slow me down and you know it." Serenity said, as softly as she could manage while still making her point. Hotaru's eyes still blazed, but Serenity could see the understanding there. She put the staff of Hotaru's prized weapon, her collapsible scythe, in her hand. Hotaru flicked it with an expert wrist and it extended. She looked menacing standing there. "Be careful, Little Mesume."

"You be careful, Mama." Hotaru said, and her glamour melted away, short honey brown hair darkening, and brown eyes shifting to pure violet. It was only in rough times they called eachother so. Times when winning was uncertain. Serenity reached out and ruffled Hotaru's hair fondly, before carrying herself to the door and exiting quietly. She was pissed. More angry than she'd let Hotaru see. She was not supposed to be hurt. No one hurt her charge. This battle would end with more lives than she'd come for because of it.

She took down two girls with headshots as she came around the corner, ignoring the pang in her chest at the loss. She was not built to kill the innocent. But these misguided fools were in her way. She and Hotaru had already made their way up the elevator. It was the reason Hotaru had gotten hurt. There had been four armed guards waiting when the doors opened. They had also found that the top floor had been remodeled. Something that had not been included in the original blueprint. She'd left Hotaru in the first room on the left.

She turned the corner and fired off two more shots in succession, and when the bodies fell they revealed an ornate door. This was it. She moved to it with practiced grace, and without thinking it completely through, she kicked the door in, flinching when two bullets whizzed her way and buried themselves in her flesh.

One had passed completely through her left side. The other was imbedded in her right shoulder. She narrowed her eyes, staring down the barrel of her gun. Seth stood in the middle of the room, behind a large desk. Two men stood on either side of him, and in the corner of the room were two small girls, chained to the wall and looking terrified.

"Bold." Seth's voice was just like Mamoru's, but with none of the kind tones she remembered. "Just two of you coming here." He tapped his fingers on the wood of his desk. "Where's the other one?" He asked, a smirk upon his features.

"Bite me." He looked her up and down, and she shivered at the look in his eyes. She remembered it all too well. He'd always look at her that way before the beatings. Before the rape.

"I'd be glad to oblige. If you lay your weapon down, perhaps I'll keep you as my toy for a bit before I kill you." Serenity laughed. She was ignoring the pain, silencing it forcibly.

"I was your toy." She said, the smile still lingering on her lips. "A long time ago. But no more." With a steady hand she dispatched of Seth's two guards, only relaxing when their bodies hit the ground. They hadn't even a chance to fire another bullet. She didn't know if it was the pain or the looks on their distorted faces that made her nauseous, but she pushed this away too. She'd been worse than this. She'd seen worse than this.

Seth, for all his bravado earlier, looked pale now. "Who are you?" He asked. She watched his hands. They fumbled for something beneath the desk. With cat-like grace, she sprinted towards him, flipping up onto his desk and landing before him, the barrel of Rin pressed to his forehead. She'd thought once, that when this moment came, she wouldn't be able to pull the trigger. That his face and the memories that came with it would stay her hand. But she didn't see Mamoru when she looked into his eyes. There was only scared, stupid Seth. A coward. A rapist. A murderer of hopes and dreams.

She let her glamour drop, and this time fully enjoyed the look on his face. "Serenity." She nodded slowly, a smile spread across her features.

"Bet you thought you'd never see me again, ne Seth?" She asked, tilting her head. "Bet you thought I died on the streets." Her finger tensed on the trigger when he opened his mouth. "No. You don't get to speak. You don't get to try to explain. You must have heard the rumours. Of the silver eyed vixen exacting revenge. I can't believe you didn't put it together. I mean, how many silver-eyed girls do you know?"

He whimpered, and her eyes narrowed, though the smile still hung on her lips. She shifted her vision to the scared looking girls in the corner for a moment. They were both very pretty. Couldn't be much older than fourteen. "Did you sucker them in too with promises of love and care?" He twitched, and with her free hand she pulled a knife from her boot, shoving it through the palm of his hand, and leaving him pinned to the desk. The gun he'd been groping for beneath the desk clattered to the tile floor. "Poor Seth. You suckered the wrong girl. Now you'll never touch one again."

She didn't flinch when she pulled the trigger. Didn't blink. Not when his blood spattered her face, Nor when his body slid sideways and her knife clattered to the desk, undone by the dead weight. She stared with even eyes at the mangled face of the one she'd once known, the one she'd once loved. No more. He wasn't Mamoru anymore.

She turned at the sound of a gun clicking behind her, and caught eyes with the assailant just in time to see her head fly from her shoulders. Hotaru stood behind her, covered in the spray of blood that was not her own.

"I thought I told you to stay." She said softly, unable to push any emotion into her voice. Hotaru smirked.

"And I didn't listen." She said. "Good thing. You got the job done and let your guard down. You look more banged up than I am." Serenity looked dully at the wounds she had sustained. They had already slowed in their bleeding. She could feel the bullet in her shoulder slowly working it's way out. It burned like fire.

"Unchain them." Serenity said, and Hotaru moved to the two girls, pulling a bobby pin from her hair. It was useless for much more than picking locks. Hotaru's hair refused to be tied up, even in glamour.

As the girls ran scared from the room, Serenity picked up the phone on the desk, pressing three numbers. "119. Nani osagashi desu ka?"

"1327 Hiroki Street." Serenity said calmly into the receiver. "Come pick up the bodies. Tell them Shini No Kisu and Kemuri No Kaze send their highest regards." She set the receiver down then, and smiled at the shocked look on Hotaru's face.

"Let's go." And shaking her head, Hotaru followed her out, past the carnage, and outside to their cycles. It was a long, silent walk. When they started them up and sped away, the sirens were just sounding in the distance.

...

"Get up. Now." Hiiro's voice broke through the dark warmth of his sleep, and he sat up straight reflexively, brushing the stray hairs from his eyes.

"What the hell man?" Duo asked, only opening one eye to look at his friend. Hiiro shoved his gun into his hand, after picking it up from it's usual place on his desk. Seeing how serious he was, he pulled a long knife from beneath his pillow as well, and jammed it into a sheath that was attached to his belt. He'd been sleeping in his jeans, but was shirtless, and quickly grabbed a black tee on his way out, jamming his gun into it's holster from the desk and clipping that to his belt as well.

"They're close. And wounded." Hiiro said, already walking towards the elevator with Duo close behind, pulling his shirt over his head and shaking his hair free from it.

"How do you know?" Duo asked. He ignored the pang in his chest at the wounded part. The anger was fresher. Trowa, Wufei and Quatre were already waiting at the car when they hit the parking floor.

"They shot up a brothel. And then called the cops." Hiiro said. Duo froze in his tracks.

"Excuse me?" He said incredulously, still trying to shake off the sleepiness in his limbs. "Two girls on the run, called the cops on themselves?"

"Get in the car baka." Wufei said with a sneer. "We can chat about how idiotic our targets are on the way."

Duo rolled his eyes and hopped in the passenger seat. Hiiro took the wheel, and Wufei, Quatre and Trowa spread themselves across the back. It was an eight passenger vehicle, and very spacious.

"I just recently came across some information, or I might not have caught them at all." Hiiro said calmly. "Quatre had alerted the cops to inform us if any suspicious calls came through, or if any deaths matching our perps were discovered. The dispatcher didn't even know what she had."

"She called and informed me that a Shini No Kisu, and Kemuri No Kaze rang the station at around 8:05 am. They spoke english, said to come pick up the bodies, and that they sent their highest regards. They also left the street address. The cops were led to a massacre. Twelve dead. Including this guy." Quatre handed Duo a picture of a suave looking japanese man, with piercing blue eyes, looking smug. "His name is Seth Corrodin. He's on the watch list, but we've never actually been able to prove he's done anything wrong."

"They killed Five of his girls. Six were security." Trowa said. Duo felt almost hurt that he'd been the last to know, but didn't voice it.

"How do we know it's them? How do you know they're wounded?" He shot both questions at once. Quatre answered obligingly as they all held on for dear life when Hiiro rounded a corner at top speed, ignoring all speed lights and maneuvering around the cars in their way.

"Hiiro only just found it last night. The conversation among criminals in this area is to watch your back for these two. The Kiss of Death, and Smoke on the Wind."

"Which I assume is what the first names mean in plain english." He ignored Wufei's snort from the back seat. He'd never cared much for learning other languages. Quatre nodded, as Duo handed back the picture of the now deceased Seth Corrodin.

"We know they're wounded because there were witnesses. We're going to interview two girls they left alive. The cops say they saw them both firsthand."

"Either they got sloppy or they stopped caring." Wufei said grimly from the back. "They wanted this guy bad enough that they attacked in broad daylight, mere miles away from the club they knew we were checking out.

Duo could see the crowding of cop cars and ambulances when they pulled up. "We'll take the upstairs." Wufei said, nodding at Trowa. "You and Quatre interview the girls."

Hiiro was already walking towards the police chief. He'd barely parked the car before his door was open. Nodding, Duo filed out of the car as well, heading to the back of an ambulance where two girls sat, huddled together beneath blankets.

"Are these them?" He asked the police officer standing next to him. He looked confused, until Quatre addressed him in Japanese, then nodded and waved a hand at the girls. They looked wary, but loosened when Quatre smiled. He had that effect in close quarters, even with the strain the crowd seemed to be causing him. Duo worried at how pale he looked, but turned his attention to the girls before him. They couldn't have been more than fifteen.

"My name is Quatre." The blond Arabian said softly. "And this is Duo. We just came to ask some questions about the girls you saw."

"My name is Keira, that's Keli." The first girl piped up."Those girls saved us." She was the older looking of the two. She had bright green eyes and long brown hair. "They were angels."

"But Hama and Marcus shot them." Said the other, a blonde with blue eyes. "They were both bleeding alot."

"And then they shot Seth!" The other said, her voice raising in volume. At the sound of his name however, both girls instantly looked scared again, their eyes flitting about uneasily.

"Did they say anything?" Quatre prodded gently. Keria nodded.

"She told Seth. That she was done being his toy. He called her..." She looked at the other girl, and when their eyes met, the name slid off both of their tongues at the same time. "Serenity."

Duo's heart dropped in his chest. For a moment, his vision went black. That name was a shock to his system. When he blinked Quatre was looking at him with eyes full of blurry tears. "Duo..." Duo put a shaky hand up to stop him and turned back to the girls.

"What did they look like?" His voice came out harsher and more frantic than he'd meant it to, and the girls shrunk back in fear. Sighing heavily, he turned back to Quatre, who collected himself enough to speak again, though his hand clenched uselessly at the fabric over his heart.

"Please girls. If they're wounded, we need to find them, to be able to help them." Duo was surprised at Quatre's expert working of situation. Then again his head was much to frazzled to think.

"One was taller." Keli said softly. "With long silver hair, and dark eyes. The other was slightly shorter. With short dark hair and violet eyes. Like yours." She nodded at Duo, but he was struck still. She continued anyways. "The girl with the silver hair changed." Keira tried to shush her gently, but Keli pushed her friend's hand away. "No it's true! Keira saw it too, but the cops didn't believe us. First she was brown haired with green eyes. Then she changed. Like, the colors just melted off."

Quatre looked at him, but he wasn't sure if it was because his heart had stopped beating in his chest or because the girl had just said the color had 'melted off' one of the girls. Maybe it was both. Serenity? Long silver hair? Could there be that many coincidences? The sound of her voice, the smell of her on the sheets... It couldn't have been. Serenity Maclaine was dead. He'd visited the grave. She was buried right next to... Hotaru Adelle. He leaned hard against the side of the ambulance. This couldn't be happening.

Quatre's hand was on his arm, and through sheer force of will he pushed everything back down, and sent a smile the Arabian's way. He did not look at all convinced that his comrade was okay, but he removed his hand and turned back to the girls.

"Thank you." He said softly, and when he turned to walk away Duo nodded numbly and followed. When they were next to the car, he leaned heavily on the hood, and took a deep heaving breath. Quatre peered at him with curious, pain filled blue eyes.

"Duo..." Duo flicked his gaze to Quatre's, and tried to ignore the gasp when the blond met his gaze full on.

"She can't be alive." Duo said breathlessly. "She can't be." His voice had turned hard.

"Who Duo?" Quatre whispered, reaching out a hand. When his fingers finally touched the fabric of his sweatshirt, he knew the man could feel his turmoil.

"Serenity." He whispered.

...

"They saw our faces." Hotaru said finally. Because the silence was paining her more than the ebb of her bullet wound. "Heard your name."

"I know Hota." Serenity said quietly. She was lying on the bed cradling her shoulder. They'd changed and showered since the brothel, and dressed the wounds that were rapidly healing. Already the bleeding had stopped, but the damage was a slow repair.

"And we're just going to sit here?" Hotaru couldn't help sounding exasperated.

"Yes." Serenity said, and it bothered Hotaru that her voice was still so soft and so calm. "They won't expect us to be so close."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Hotaru finally asked. "Because I don't get it Ren." Serenity's eyes were so empty when she looked at her that she brought her hand to her lips and gasped. "When did you give up?"

"A long time ago Hota." She said, and her voice was as void of emotion as her eyes. "What use is trying to run from this?" She sighed then. And looked old... tired. "I'm sorry if it scares you, but I tire of this Firefly."

Hotaru wasn't sure what to say anymore. Wasn't sure what to do. Serenity seemed to sense it, even though she had returned to her relaxed position on her back and closed her eyes.

"Don't Love." She said. "Just let it go. I will be beside you to the bitter end." And then, softer. "The very bitter end."

"Ren..." Serenity cut her off, her voice still eerily calm.

"Please Hota." She said. "Please." And though there was no emotion in her voice, Hotaru felt the pang in her chest like it had been her own. Felt Serenity's heart breaking. And it made her wonder. How long would it be before she broke too? Another lifetime? Two? What would the fates be left with but well honed machines?

And then it dawned on her that maybe that was what they'd always wanted. Thier souls had been damned to something worse than death. But there was no going back. There was only the slope they traveled, further forward, further down. It hurt. Goddess it hurt.

...

"What the fuck is wrong with him?" He could hear Wufei, but chose not to comment. They had all gathered back in the car, and were driving back to the condo to research with the addition of their new information. Unfortunately the girls had a few hours on them. They'd left the brothel around 8. They had not arrived at the scene until noon.

"Something the girls said." Quatre said quietly. He had at least seemed hesitant to say anything. But Duo knew how important this information was. No matter how it affected him.

"Tell them, Quatre." he said, his voice coming out hoarse, as if he was losing it.

"We got a name." Quatre said softly. "Serenity. And descriptions. Although they're muddied. One girl was definitely shorter, with short dark hair and eyes of violet. The other started with long brown hair and green eyes. But according to the girls, the colors... shifted. To silver hair and dark eyes."'

"Shifted?" Trowa asked with a raised eyebrow. Quatre shrugged. He looked paler than Duo liked. He could see him in his side-mirror.

"Her exact words were that 'the colors just melted off'." The blond said, finally.

"Silver and grey?" Hiiro repeated in his trademark monotone, and Duo could feel his comrade's eyes on him. The SUV stopped suddenly. "Duo?"

He'd pulled over in an abandoned parkinglot. For a moment he stared out the window, and the silence was deafening. They were at least all polite enough to let him break it himself. "If I'm right. And Gods how can I be?" He slammed his fist into the dashboard and was rewarded with the tight bite of pain. He took a deep breath. "If I'm right their names are Serenity Maclaine and Hotaru Adelle." His voice betrayed him, and he could say no more.

He wasn't sure if it was anger, sadness. What it was. But it hurt right down to the core.

...

_**And so... Seth has been dispatched of. And Hotaru and Serenity delve deeper in the darkness that is their everlasting their souls be saved? How will Duo cope with the fact that the one he's thought dead for so long might actually be alive? With the fact that, for just a night, he'd had her wrapped in his arms? What will the future bring for both parties? You'll have to read on. Look for the next chapter of Mona Lisa.**_

_** :**_

_**For those who didn't know...**_

_**4 : 119. Nani osagashi desu ka? : 911. How can I assist you?**_


	5. Chapter Five : Shinigami Never Dies

_**Disclaimer:**_** I do not and never will own any right to Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. Though I fervently wish I did. However this story, it's general plotline, all of it's original characters do belong to me. Go on, try to sue. I think I've got some lint and a few quarters in my purse.**

...

_**:Mona Lisa:**_

...

_It wasn't a hard decision. Even though it should have been. To have him alive, and in my arms, it was something I never thought I'd feel again. So even it was the wrong thing to do, after all these years, tired, alone. Wouldn't you have done the same? He smelled just like he always had. Tasted just as I had imagined. Sweet Bliss. But only for a moment. It only ever lasts for a moment. I only ever last for a 's ticking. And we still have so much to do._

...

_**:Chapter Five : Shinigami Never Dies : **_

...

She clenched her teeth over the pain, but the whimper that escaped her lips was not lost to Hotaru's ears. The bullet had finally worked it's way from her flesh, and she grasped it, warm and bloody in her hand. Hotaru's own bullet had stayed where it was. It must have been lodged in bone. It mattered little. The broken bits would simply heal around it. It had happened before. Secretly Serenity was relieved. The way the body forced the foreign object out was painful.

"Ren?" Hotaru's voice broke through the silence and the dark. They'd been laying her in this hotel room all day. Sleeping off their injuries. They'd stripped their clothing and glamoured in a shaded corner of a parking lot two miles away, using baby wipes to wash each other of the obvious blood. They had continued from there back to the hotel, taking a taxi and leaving their cycles behind. It was hard not to miss the parade of cops and detectives down the street. But no one was looking for a petite blonde pixie and a fiery red head. They'd showered and cleaned their wounds since then. She'd dressed her side in stark white bandages, but had left her shoulder bare waiting for the bullet to show.

"I'm alright Hota." She breathed, knowing she didn't sound very convincing. The girl was already standing, retrieving a fresh roll of gauze and a bottle of iodine. Their healing capabilities moved much slower with infection. She rolled to her back as Hotaru came to her bedside, allowing her access to the wound. She dressed it with light fingers, but pulled the wrapping tight. Serenity swallowed the groan that rose in her throat. But Hotaru was rarely, if ever fooled.

"It should heal soon." She said, getting up and moving to the bathroom to wash her hands. When she returned she took the other bed, sitting upon it with her legs crossed beneath her. It seemed her wound bothered her little now. Serenity lay still, staring up at the ceiling.

Her voice betrayed her the first time she chanced using it, coming out more like a hoarse cough. She cleared her throat, and tried again, ignoring that this time it came out thick, still filled with pain. "It will heal in time."

"In time for what, though?" Hotaru asked quietly. She was swinging her legs back and forth when she looked at her again, a habit she'd kept from so many millenia ago Serenity had lost count.

"If I knew, I'd certainly tell you." Serenity said, sighing before speaking again. She flinched when the deep breath jarred her wounds. "I don't sense anything." She turned her head towards the petite girl, locking eyes with her. "Do you?"

"Just the same thick blackness as always." Serenity turned her eyes to the ceiling again, before closing them.

"Fuck." It was a whisper, and she heard Hotaru shift her position on the bed beside her. It had been easy, all the times before. Dispatch of the bad guys, whose plans were usually ludicrous and half-hearted anyways, and get on with it. But this _felt _different. Seth was dead, but a storm loomed on the horizon like one they hadn't seen in quite some time.

"We'll be okay Ren." Hotaru's voice only soothed her so much. "I'm right here with you." She forced the smile to her lips for her charges sake, but did not speak her thoughts aloud. That, was exactly what she was worried about. She kept silent as Hotaru stood, closing the blinds and fiddling with a few things before shutting the light.

She did not sleep. That pain and the worry did not let her.

...

"Are you okay?" He thought about not answering. But only for a second.

"No. To be perfectly honest." And he was. Very honest. At the moment he was hunched over the island that separated the living room and the kitchen, a glass of bourbon in his hand. He knew he needed to stop drinking, needed to be clear-headed. But the weight he felt right now could only be lifted by something that fully impaired his ability to think. Quatre wasn't helping right now. But it was nice that he was trying. The Arabian took the bar stool next to him, and Duo turned from his glass enough just to see him out of the corner of his eye. He sighed heavily, and raised the glass to his lips again.

"There are still things we don't know." Quatre said. "The trail of Serenity does really and truly end with the car accident. But the fingerprints match both girls. They were both in the system as missing persons before the crash."

"I don't understand." It came out a whisper. He turned his eyes to Quatre's turquoise blue, saw his comrade flinch without meaning to. "This is something I would do. If you'd known her Quatre..." He sighed again, looked back down at his glass. "She was an angel. The only thing pure I'd ever come across in this life."

"No purity lasts forever." Quatre said with his own heavy sigh. "It's something we know well." Duo let go of the glass he'd been nursing, and laid a shaky hand on Quatre's arm, over the shirt, where the impact of his own swirling emotions would be lessened. The man still looked pained. His breath quickened, and Duo fought to calm himself for his friend's sake.

"I'm still with you." He said, and turned his lips up in a grin that was meant solely for Quatre. "Shinigami still rides to die."

Quatre smiled back, and laid his hand over Duo's. The contact was a wave of calm. He'd forgotten how good Quatre was at taking the pain and the panic away. "I know." The bond said softly. "I wish this wasn't always so hard though Duo, I do."

"I know." Duo said softly back. "But I suppose the fates, for us, wouldn't have it any other way." He and Quatre moved their hands simultaneously when the elevator opened. Wufei, Hiiro, and Trowa entered together.

Duo turned on the bar stool with his glass in hand, draining it and setting it down before leaning back on the counter. "Game plan?" He asked, as smoothly as he could manage. Quatre's mere touch had helped, and the alcohol was assisting as well, but he still felt shaken. Wasn't the first time though, he mused, he'd seen someone come back from the dead. Hiiro did it all the time. It was he who spoke.

"We've got a trace on credit cards, and the like." He said, in perfect monotone.

"But they're not that stupid." Wufei said. He leaned against the back of the couch, crossing his arms in the usual manner. "They drained straight cash from the account after your _encounter_." He stressed the word, and Duo grinned just to spite him.

"We also have every vehicle registered under the names Amity Lelaine, Hotaru Adelle, or Serenity Maclaine." Trowa spoke this time, and Duo shifted his eyes to him. "One was the SUV they left in the parking deck. Amity Lelaine also has two Black Kawasakis registered in her name."

"That's why they traveled light." Duo said, and was slightly unnerved when all eyes turned to him. He hadn't told anyone but Hiiro what history he had with Serenity, though by his reaction at the brothel scene he knew they all had questions. So far, none of them had asked. "I'm still with you." He said, harder than he'd meant to. "This is still a mission. And Shinigami does not fail."

His comrades did not relax in the least, but he felt the acceptance. They all had their secrets. And they knew eachother well enough not to ask. But he knew they'd never seen him so shaken before. They needed to hear he was still on point. That whatever connection he had to this girl, it would not sway him. He just wished he was as sure as he sounded.

"So you think they're on the bikes?" Quatre asked. Duo sent him a thankful smirk. He'd done it to break tension. Forever the glue. Hiiro nodded.

"Unless they stole something. But they didn't have much time, and nothing has been reported stolen in the area as of late."

"Then what's our move?" Duo crossed his arms over his chest too, but only because his heart was beating so fast he was sure Quatre could hear it. It had never been this hard to keep himself together before.

"Citywide search." Wufei said. "Circling out from the brothel and the club. You and Yui at the brothel, Winner and Barton at the club. I'll take the middle. We move now. Dress heavy. And remember, they have means of disguise. The hair and eye color could have already changed by now."

They all moved at the same time, and Duo was glad of the momentary alone time. His head was spinning. It was her. It had been her. He'd had her in his arms last night. He'd taken her with passion he'd never shown a soul. No wonder the connection had been so strong. He gathered his weapons slowly, not being able to help the thought that one of them might be her end. He'd just gotten her back, and he was already losing her.

It was then that the anger flared, and he slammed a clip into his favorite .45 too hard, jamming it and cursing aloud. She'd been alive. All this time. Alive and hiding. Did he have a right to be angry after leaving her behind? After last night, it certainly felt justified. And it wasn't as if he hadn't been on her mind. The notes... Was she really that bitter? Was he?

He worked the clip back out of the .45, checked it for damage, and satisfied, reloaded it the right way. None of it mattered. All that mattered right now was finding her and her accomplice. Then, he would get his answers. And if he had to, by the Gods, he'd rip them from her one by one. Zipping his duffel closed, he changed into a pair of black denim jeans and a dark blue tee, pulling his favorite black cap over his hair. One way or another. He'd get his answers.

...

"We're going to Mollie's." Hotaru looked up with wide eyes, in the middle of changing to the last outfit she'd had that wasn't either smelly or covered in blood. It consisted of a white tank with a black lace overlay, black leggings, and the same black flats she'd worn on their departure from the condo.

"Did I hear you right?" Hotaru asked, still pulling her shirt into place. Her wound was healing rapidly, it looked as if it barely bothered her now. Serenity's wounds were healing much slower. She blamed the liquor.

"Yes, you did." She said, checking herself in the mirror. She was donned in her last clean outfit as well. It was a black halter top with silver accents, with fishnet beneath that went halfway down her arms. It did little to hide the white bandage on her shoulder, so she removed it. The skin was taught and scarred there, but still red with irritation. She ignored it. The shirt was paired with tight black leggings like Hotaru's, though she wore her favorite heels to complete the look. Over the years she'd learned to run in them just as fast as she ran barefoot.

"Do you really want to..." Hotaru paused, as if searching for the words. Serenity crossed the distance between them and laid a hand on hers, smiling softly.

"I'm sure." She patted her charges hand once before returning to packing her remaining possessions. "She'll just have to forgive us." She swung the now lighter bag over her good shoulder, fighting the protest of her still healing body. Hotaru glamour ghosted over her with little thought, and when she turned to look back at Hotaru she was a blond pixie again. Her friend's eyes dared her to say something, so she laughed instead.

They were relatively silent on the ride down the elevator, and Serenity smiled when she reached the front desk. "Yumi Polara, checking out." She said, switching back to japanese fluidly. She and Hotaru usually preferred to speak english when they were in Japan, less ears to hear it here. But it helped to know the base language. It was the reason they usually drifted here. That, and memories of old.

She was smiling and flirting shamelessly with the clerk as he handed her back one of her many fake IDs, when she felt Hotaru tense beside her, and gasp. She turned her eyes to the last thing she wanted to see. Duo Maxwell and Hiiro Yui standing in the doorway of their own cruddy hotel.

She'd been fooling herself for the second she thought he wouldn't recognize her. She had to force her heartbeat to start up again when he raised the .45 in her direction, Hiiro's magnum following suit. "Don't do this Serenity." His voice broke her heart. It was cold, with a shimmer of pleading beneath that she wished fervently to give into.

Hotaru was faster than she was, mostly because the shock had momentarily frozen her. She'd zipped her bag open and pulled out two pistols, dropping to her knees and shooting six shots off rapid fire. They might have been the legendary Gundam pilots, but she and Hotaru were the legendary Sailor Soldiers. They were trumped on speed. In the confusion She pulled Rin, and fired a shot of her own. She smirked at Duo's face. She'd missed his head by millimeters. She didn't know anymore if she'd meant to or not. "I have to." She said, just loud enough that he could hear. And then she ran. The gunfire behind them was deafening.

She and Hotaru were not stupid enough not to know every exit. Behind the desk, where the clerk was currently cowering in fear, was an office, and beyond that a exit right out to the back alleyway. She hoped for her sake that they had no back-up. She was amazed they'd found them this fast. A smirk touched her lips. She supposed she should have expected no less. The street was empty when they reached it, but she had no time for a sigh of relief. Hotaru gave her only a quick glance, and she nodded as they parted ways. They knew what to do in this situation. They were harder to catch apart, though she loathed leaving her charge.

She rounded the corner and stopped, waiting. The footfalls were heavy. But there was only one set. She sighed without sound, worry building in her chest. "Hota." She breathed, gritting her teeth. If they hurt her... She leaned over just enough to fire two shots. The magnum was slower at firing than she'd like right now, but she had no time to dig through her bag. The running stopped. Silence reigned for a few moments, save the din of traffic a street away.

"It's been a long time Duo." She breathed out, with a wince. Her shoulder had reopened with the activity. She should have just worn the damn bandage. It ran down her arm and dripped beneath her, a steady 'plop, plop' on the pavement.

"No." She heard him reply. She hadn't been sure if it was he who followed her, but it was now confirmed. "It hasn't." Her heart clenched, and though she was willing it not to, the heat rose in her.

"Some second date." She said, letting the pain come to her voice. It didn't matter. She couldn't be caught now. There was someone she and Hota had to say goodbye to first. "I can't let you catch me Duo. Not today."

"And I won't let you get away for the third time." Her heart stopped. Had she heard that right? She shook her head. It didn't matter. It couldn't matter. No matter how much she wanted it to. He was closer now. She could almost feel him around the corner. With speed that she knew belied her frame, she skirted the corner and jumped, kicking the gun from his hand in a spin and then landing above him, pinning his shoulders to the ground. They fell hard. She heard and felt the back of his head slam the pavement, and was instantly sorry.

His eyes were unfocused. She could smell the alcohol on his breath. It was no wonder she'd bested him. Ah, the poison was strong. She knew it all too well. When his eyes focused, he struggled against her. He seemed surprised at her strength. She didn't let him think it was waning with the loss of blood. She'd been hurt worse. She could do this.

"You're not the girl I left behind." He said, and his voice was thick, like it had been the night at the Hilton.

"I was never that girl." She said softly. The blood from her wound was trailing down her arm now, pooling on the dark blue t-shirt he wore. Her eyes filled with tears even though she tried hard to force them back. She was holding his arms down with her thighs, and she felt him flail uselessly beneath her.

"I'm beginning to see that." Ouch. That hurt. His voice was ice cold. She smiled, and her vision cleared. Rin was held loosely by two fingers in her right hand, and she leaned over him, so that they were inches apart. The heat between them could not be denied, no matter how icy his demeanor. She put her forehead against his, her breathing ragged. Her vision was blurring now from blood loss. The smile still graced her lips. What a troublesome wound.

"I told you I always lie. If you only knew why. I'll never stop being sorry." She said this softly, searching his eyes and finding nothing there. "But you were right. It's Easier this way." She tightened her grip and brought Rin up swiftly, slamming the barrel against the side of his head, and immediately rendering him unconscious. With a gentle hand, she brushed her fingers against his cheek. She didn't want to fight him anymore. Not really. She wanted to hold her hands up and let him cuff her. Let him drag her away. Let him and his friends lock her up and throw away the key. It didn't matter... but for... Hotaru.

The footsteps coming towards her made her look up, and she narrowed her glamoured eyes. Hiiro. If he was here, it meant he'd lost Hotaru. She wasn't called Smoke on the Wind for nothing. He didn't wait to start firing. She leapt from her position and ran for her life. With Duo, she'd had a fighting chance, especially impaired as he'd been. With Hiiro, the chance dropped exceedingly low, as impaired as she was. He proved this by sinking a bullet deep into her calf. She bit her lip and forced herself not to cry out.

Willing the pain away, she turned the corner and leapt, hissing as her shoulder was wrenched by the normally simple act of her grasping at a fire escape. She did this twice. And by the time Hiiro Yui rounded the corner, Gun drawn, she was looking down on him from five stories up. Fighting to stem the bleeding from her shoulder and calf, and slow her breath, she watched him search, even ducked silently away when he did think to trail her blood and look up. His footsteps moving slowly away gave her time to pause, but not much. She could faintly hear him trying to rouse Duo, and then speaking into what she assumed was a phone.

She threw off her heels with a wince, and slipped quickly into her sneakers, stuffing the heels into the bag and starting off at a run. She leapt rooftops with practiced ease, trying to ignore the constant bite of her wounds. She was running on adrenaline at this point. Couldn't go back to the bikes. Time for plan B. She cursed under her breath. She _hated _plan B.

...

"Maxwell. Wake the fuck up." Hiiro was getting more and more pissed by the second. The girls were fast. Inhumanly so. And their knack for disappearing was supernatural. He'd never had a woman best him. Ever. The emotion faded quickly, set with determination instead. Breathing out, he shook Duo again.

He was rewarded with the slow, lazy opening of violet eyes. He'd have yelled again, but Duo looked twice as pissed as he felt when his vision finally focused, and he decided not to press him. He watched his comrade stand languidly, collect his gun, and wipe idly at the cut over his head. It bled down his face, over his eyes and mouth. All in all he painted a formidable picture in Hiiro's eyes. Truly a Shinigami. "Lost them."

"Not for long." Duo said, and his voice was like ice. Hiiro was surprised to hear it ring out much like his own. "Did you call?"

"Yeah. Taken Care of." Duo breathed out again, and smirked at his comrade, and Hiiro smirked back. He was most comfortable with the American, though he was never able to place why. In the years he had known him, had his back, through thick and thin, he'd been the most influential on his return to normality. If there even was such a thing. For them, he highly doubted it. It wasn't something that phased him really, just something he accepted. He had been born for this. They all had. And they had a duty to fulfill because of it. It was unspoken, but always understood. If no one else could do it, they would. He trusted in his team. Though he'd never say it aloud. And though there were only rare moments when his emotion came flooding in, he owed that tiny bit to them.

To the Dr., he was nothing more than a machine. To his comrades, he was human. A friend. "Gonna make it?" He asked, and Duo spit blood at the ground, smiling and looking absolutely every bit of his namesake. He rubbed the back of his head, and it came back clean.

"Shinigami never dies. Let's go."

...

"I don't know why you're smiling Maxwell. The Onnas got away." Wufei looked as sour as he sounded, arms crossed and brow furrowed. Duo grinned wide. The cut on his forehead had been cleaned and stitched together with butterfly tape. When Quatre commented on how she'd held her blow, he'd laughed and said something lurid about their encounter at the hotel. Quatre had blushed profusely, and not said anything else.

"Wrong Wu-man." He said, pulling a small transmitter from his pocket. "They're leading us away." Wufei actually cracked a grin, and it was more satisfying than anything in that moment.

"You sly fox." Wufei said, and then seemed to remember he still disliked the American, and set his lips set firmly. Quatre smiled at the moment, and spoke.

"How long til you think she finds out she's been bugged?" Duo shrugged.

"Don't know. These are my newest toys." He held up an extra tracker, to prove his point. "Small as a tick. But I don't give it long. She's fast and smart. And doesn't want to be caught. Said she had unfinished business." He kept the apology she'd given to himself. It filled him with unease, but he didn't let it show. He didn't know if he wanted her dead or alive anymore, but he knew his mission. He couldn't let her kill again. And he was still pretty pissed about the head wound.

"I don't believe anyone has mentioned yet, that you got your ass kicked by a girl." He turned shocked eyes to Trowa, whose face was impassive as ever. He might have detected a small smirk gracing his lips. He sighed, and ran a hand through is hair, smiling wide.

"Yeah Tro." He said sheepishly. "But you only best death once. She's not a cat. She's only got one life." Wufei nodded with a small smirk, and he praised his sudden ability to hide his turmoil right now. It helped that he was more pissed than confused.

"Well said." Hiiro said and patted him on the back. Quatre was beaming. Suddenly Duo felt as if this mission wasn't just passed down from the ranks. The Arabian could get sneaky when they began to drift further apart. He found though, almost instantly, that he didn't mind. On a mission like this, he rejoiced in their company.

"Shall we, gentlemen?" He asked, chuckling as he switched the tracker on. The low beep was something to distract him from how mashed up he was inside.

...

_**And there you have it. Chapter Five, done. With no idea the Gundam boys are hot on their trail, Serenity and Hotaru go to visit an old friend. Will they pull her into the fray by accident? More reckless than ever, their path is becoming uncertain. To find out what happens next... you'll have to catch the next chapter of Mona Lisa.**_

_**To my Reviewers: **_

_**Moon Mage Goddess: Thank you... more to come as soon as I am able! **_

_**MegaKat: I'm moving on it love. :) One chapter at a time. You are my biggest inspiration. And the story about you and your husband? I'm not even sure exactly what happened... but I laughed for like ten minutes imagining it. :D**_

_**Krissy: I'm not giving up on this story... as slow as it is going. Stay tuned. :) **_


	6. Chapter Six : Unusual Friends

_**Disclaimer:**_** I do not and never will own any right to Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. Though I fervently wish I did. However this story, it's general plotline, all of it's original characters do belong to me. Go on, try to sue. I think I've got some lint and a few quarters in my purse.**

...

_**:Mona Lisa:**_

...

_Following her meant no questions asked. I owed her that much. But even I was starting to wonder if she'd completely lost her mind. It didn't matter if I did or didn't care. Because she was so bent on destroying herself bit by bit that there was nothing I could do to stop her. It hurt to know that. But I was starting to think maybe he could. It was a long shot. But I don't think I've ever had a better trump card. _

...

_**:Chapter Six : Unusual Friends : **_

...

Hotaru met her at the spot, and it was all she could do not to collapse in her arms, so tired was she. Her blood loss was significant. Apparently the wound on her shoulder had closed on the outside, but the damage from the bullet receding had not. Her calf was not in much better shape. The bullet was lodged in the bone. She couldn't stop the flow of crimson.

"Ren." Hotaru's voice was calm, and she gathered her into her arms for a moment. They both knew what was on the others mind. 'Thank the Goddess you're safe.' "Can you walk?"

"No where public I hope." She managed with a smile, Hotaru smiled back.

"You know me better than that love." She said softly. She half dragged and half nudged her towards a small alley, where a green SUV was parked. Serenity couldn't help being proud.

"You Rock Hota." She said as the girl helped her pull herself into the passenger seat, clenching the wound on her arm.

"I know." Hotaru said rather smugly. She chuckled at the look Serenity shot her. "Can you hold out til Mollies?" Serenity breathed out, slowly, calmed herself with old and true techniques. Goddess she missed Haruka.

"Yeah." She could already feel the tingle of healing. The blood slowing. It was the running that had made it pump so fast. "Drive on." Hotaru started the car and shot into drive with force.

"Whatever you say Ren."

...

"So which direction are they heading?" Duo was sitting in the passenger seat of Quatre's SUV. Per usual, Hiiro was driving, and Quatre, Wufei, and Trowa were spread across the back seats, checking ammo and weaponry. His laptop, with the transmitter hooked to it, showed a map. One red dot blinked on it.

"South." He replied to Hiiro. "Take Harume Court." He braced himself habitually as Hiiro took the turn 30 miles faster than he should have. His head pounded with the tensing of his muscles. "Jeez buddy, take it easy." He smirked at the look Hirro shot him sidelong. "Just follow this. We wanna stay a road away so they don't catch on."

"Noted." Hiiro said in his usual monotone, his eyes narrowed on the road. Duo sighed, and rubbed the back of his head. It was still sore, but she hadn't knocked him back hard enough to break the skin. She very well could have. He never would have imagined the power she had in her limbs. He knew Hiiro wasn't bothering him about it because he'd seen first hand how fast and strong they were. The others... well did it matter? He'd gotten the tracker on her. And Hiiro had said earlier that he'd managed to land a shot on her, though he couldn't be sure where. Would she be alive when they found her? Did he care?

His heart contracted painfully in his chest, and he sucked air in quickly, momentarily feeling like he was suffocating. Yeah, he did. But he told himself it was just because he needed answers. Answers only she could give.

"NorthEast." He said. "East Tokyo Drive." Hiiro just nodded and followed the direction impassively.

"You said they were fast." Quatre said. "How fast are we talking?" They hadn't really spoken much before packing up to go. Duo barely had time to change his shirt and grab his laptop after Quatre had cleaned him up. Her blood still painted his jeans. It had nearly dried.

"Inhumanly so." Hiiro's voice was flat. "The younger one fired off six shots before I could peel off one, and her pistols were zipped in her bag."

"Think it has anything to do with the fact that her fingerprints are over a hundred years old?" Wufei asked. He sounded skeptical even though the words had come from his mouth.

"We'll find out when we catch up to them." Trowa said from the back. "Right Duo?" He smirked, though didn't turn to look at the brunette.

"Yeah, I suppose we will." They were fast. But this time they'd be outnumbered two to one. "It won't be long. Turn left here." They'd hit a highway. The red dot flashed quickly, five miles ahead of them. "Did you check for cars?"

"Green SUV." Hiiro said. "Stolen from a parking lot two miles away from the gunfight. It took five minutes."

"She ran a mile and stole a car in five minutes?" Wufei asked aloud. "These Onnas get more and more intriguing."

"Never thought I'd hear that come out of your mouth Wu-man."' Duo said with a smile. Wufei grumbled, and shoved a clip into one of the guns before him on the seat before shoving it into his side holster.

"Shutup Maxwell."

...

"How close are we?" They'd been driving for over an hour. In which time Serenity had been drifting in and out of unconsciousness. She was always woken by the chilly hand of Hotaru, an insistent shaking on her thigh that would have annoyed her in any other situation. Her voice sounded hoarse. She licked her lips, and Hotaru produced a bottle of water from nowhere, handing it to her. She took a sip, using her good arm to lift the bottle to her lips. "Do you still have a subspace pocket or something?"

Hotaru smiled. "Full bottle was sitting right here. Still cold." She motioned to the small compartment in the drivers door.

"Lucky." Serenity rasped, groaning when a shiver passed through her.

"We are close, by the way." Serenity looked out the window. Miles of ocean stretched past them. She could vaguely see her reflection in the window glass. Her glamour had dropped a long time ago. Silver hair pooled all over, some stuck to her wounds. Her dark grey eyes looked tired, worn. They'd come off the highway not too long ago, and into the small Oceanic town of Fukyoka. "Think she'll be happy to see us?"

"She always is." She sighed. She'd ripped pieces of her leggings to stem the bleeding from her calf, and taken a few bandages from her bag to wrap her arm, but both had bled through awhile ago. They'd packed lighter than usual due to their destination. They hadn't expected heavy gunfire.

She closed her eyes for what she thought was but a moment, and woke to Hotaru opening her door, putting a hand to her face. She smiled at the figure standing beside her. It had been too long. Her hair was red, long, and wildy curly, a far cry from how she'd kept it so many millenia ago. Her eyes were a very light blue, a sharp contrast to her sun kissed skin. She wore a long sun-dress, in turquoise blue with a white sunflower print, made more efficient with large pockets at the hips. "Usagi." It had been so long since she'd heard that name. But the familiarity in the tone made her feel like she was home. It hurt and left her numbly comfortable at the same time.

"Naru."1 The womans arms came into the car, and with her and Hotaru's help, she hobbled into the secluded beach house that belonged to her good friend. Once inside, she was plopped unceremoniously on a soft rocker, as Mollie began her scolding.

"You two only ever show up when theres something wrong. Never a Hello Mollie? How are you Mollie? How have been after all these Millenia? And Goddess knows I only see you in half the lifetimes we've lived." She was gathering things from random places in the house as she spoke. When her arms were full, she dumped the contents of them on a coffetable before the rocker and kneeled in front of Serenity intertwining their hands. She looked up at her, but did not truly see. Mollie had been blind for many millenia. "Daijoubou Usa-chan?"2

Serenity smiled through the haze. "Daijoubou Naru-chan."3 She said softly. "How I've missed you."

"And I you." Mollie said softly. Serenity was the only one who called her Naru these days, and similarly, she was the only one who still called her Usagi. Mollie eyes turned to where she instinctively knew Hotaru was standing. "And you too of course, Firefly."

Hotaru nodded with a smile. "We apologize for the intrusion Moll." She said. "I think you see our predicament though."

"See? No." Mollie said with a sly smile. "Feel? Yes." Hotaru looked sheepish, but Mollie waved her away, raising to walk to her kitchen and wash her hands. The house was the same as it had always been. They could always find her here, should they need her assistance. Mollie was an anomaly. The only one alive to know the true identities of the Legendary Sailor Scouts thousands of years ago, the fates had given her a deal. In order to keep the memories of the Sailors, and ultimately of her one true love, Nephrite, she was something of an Earth Liason. The price had been her vision. She had given it willingly. In the past, when she had still been Cosmos, Mollie would alert her of trouble on this Earth from time to time. When they had been made Demi-immortal, she lingered with them. But usually Hotaru and Serenity avoided this place like the plague. Although Mollie was continuously reborn, as they were, she was wholly human. Her will was strong, but her body was fragile. She'd died more than once aiding them. Just more regrets for Serenity to lay upon the list of many. "Stop that."

She looked up at Mollie, who had reentered the room, drying her hands with a soft cloth. Losing her vision, had made her very perceptive in other ways. Her empathy rivaled Serenity's. She'd nearly forgotten. It had been many years since she'd seen the woman. She looked to be about in her thirties now, but still as young faced and stunning as ever. "Gomen-nasai.4 I lose myself sometimes."

"Sometimes?" Hotaru snorted from across the room. Serenity stuck her tongue out at her charge, wincing as Mollie set to slowly unwrapping her make-shift bandages. The blood flow had slowed, but both wounds were red with irritation. Gently, Mollie cleaned them with peroxide and bactine, wiping them clean and setting the bandages tight. She fought to keep the whimper from her lips as she pulled both bandages taught.

"There. All better." Mollie got up to wash her hands again, and Serenity sunk back into the chair with a sigh. She was nothing short of a miracle worker when it came to healing. She'd been a nurse in almost every life, and it showed. Her loss of vision hadn't hindered her much. When she returned, she was carrying sandwiches, and two tall glasses of iced-tea. "Eat. Drink."

Serenity took the sandwich gratefully, taking a bite. Ham and cheese. Made with love. Mollie would have made an amazing mother, once upon a time, when things were... normal. If you could really call it that. "We can't stay for long." She said, after washing down the bite with the cool sun-made iced tea. "We'd be putting you in danger."

Mollie sat on the couch across from her, and Hotaru followed suit, retrieving her sandwich from the plate on the coffee table and snuggling into the soft suede. She'd washed her hands of Serenity's blood at some point. Perhaps when Mollie had been bandaging her wounds. The red-heads hand reached under the table, and she hefted up a pretty little pistol.

"Where did you find that?" Serenity gasped. She remembered it well. She'd given it to her herself, almost a hundred years ago.

"I had it stored in a vault. Refinished on my fourteenth birthday." She turned it in her hands. "I must admit I'm not the best shot, not being able to focus and all, but it's scared more than a few burglars away."

Serenity smiled. "I can't believe you kept it." She was warmed by it, in a morbid sort of way. Leave it to her to give guns for presents. Suddenly, Mollie went still. She set the gun down on the table with a soft click, and returned to her position before Serenity. Her hand gently traveled up Serenity's thigh, and she pulled from the fabric there something small, shiny and black. Hotaru's eyes widened, and then she smirked. "Sneaky little bakayaros.5" Serenity said softly. Now that Mollie held it in her tanned fingers, she could hone in on the steady beeping it emitted. "Naru. Stay here."

They'd been careless. She'd been careless. There wasn't much time.

...

She pushed herself to her feet, and ran with Hotaru, outside. She tore the door open to the SUV so fast the hinges creaked, and pulled her bag from the back, zipping it open and arming herself with Rin. Half it's clip was spent, but she pulled the bag with her, rushing back inside Mollie's with Hotaru on her heels.

"We never get a break." Hotaru hissed from behind her. She could hear her slamming home a clip on her .45 special. Mollie was waiting for them just inside the door. Serenity noticed she had cleaned what she could while they were gone. The bandages and glasses and other odds and ends had been swept from the table.

"Give me those." She motioned to the bags that each girl held. Serenity was loathe to leave them with the redhead, but there was an insistence in her voice that could not be ignored. "Give them to me and go, now." Hotaru shoved the bag into Mollie's arms, throwing her arms around her neck with a gun in each hand and her Glaive hanging over her shoulder. It was a sweet and morbid moment. Serenity slowly hefted her katana in it's sheath over her shoulder. She holstered Rin to her thigh, and palmed her chromed out .45.

"Be careful Moll." Hotaru whispered, before letting her go. The blind woman nodded, and hefted Hotaru's duffel into her right hand. The left, she held out, waiting. Serenity put the straps of the duffel in Mollie's soft hand, and she sighed as the woman closed her fingers over her own.

"Don't let the dark consume you Usa." Serenity raised a hand to Mollie's cheek, brushing the hair there back behind her friends ear.

"It already has Naru." She drew her hand away, and sighed. "Be safe." Mollie's eyes were guarded, but she nodded again. She wanted to say more... but bit her tongue.

"Ren!" Hotaru's hushed voice forced her to look her charge's way, and her heart caught in her throat. Through the window, coming their way, was a black SUV.

"Go." Mollie whispered, urgently. Serenity took one last look at her forever friend, and followed Hotaru out the back door with hate in her heart.

...

She didn't need eyes to know this house. The one she had occupied for years innumerable. It had been the place where Nephrite had taken her to consummate their love. Each life compelled her to return. In some lives, she had even been lucky enough to inherit it through family. She had created many places to hide things, over the years. It was one of these she traveled to now, with sure steps.

She moved to her guest bedroom, setting the heavy duffels down and dropping to her knees, rapping softly on the wooden floor. There. She moved her fingers beneath one of the floorboards, and wrenched it up. She could hear the footsteps in her driveway. She smiled as she quickly stuffed both bags into the space beneath, and replaced the board, brushing her knees as she stood.

She moved to the kitchen then, her steps slow, calm. Carefully, she pulled five glasses from the cabinets, and opened the refrigerator to fill them with sweet sun brewed iced-tea. She set these on a tray and walked towards the livingroom with them in hand just as her front door burst open. Though she could not see them, she could hear the click of the safety's as more than one gun trained on her.

She smiled softly. "Would you like some iced tea?"

...

She raised a finger to her lips, and was met with exasperated violet eyes. She couldn't fight the smirk that played across them as she dropped the finger. They were perched on the roof of Mollie's humble abode. With time, they would have gone much farther. Her heart was beating loud in her chest, so loud she felt it would betray them. They were no match for all five pilots... especially with her in her current condition.

She heard them burst through Mollie's door, and watched as Hotaru stifled a giggle when the red-head's voice rang through the distance. "Iced tea?" Hotaru mouthed, and despite their situation, she smiled too. Their friend was amazing. Ever calm in any situation. She was a Gods-sent. Fates sent? It didn't matter. Her calf tingled from the stress of the position she crouched in, but she ignored it.

She was struck as she sat there.. by a sense of deja vu', and an aching need... a want perhaps? To simply give herself up. To keep Mollie and Hotaru from the senseless violence. From the consequences of the mistakes she had made. But that... was impossible. Her eyes drifted over the pale form of her charge where she was crouched, waiting. It was too late. Far too late. She racked her brain for answers... but came up with none. Hotaru would follow her to the death. No matter what. The fear for her charge kept her from moving. They would be free at least another day. They simply sat, patient, silent. And waited, hopefully, for their moment.

...

"Is she serious?" None of the men had moved, but Duo's voice was incredulous behind the barrel of his gun. He and Hiiro had burst in first, to the peculiar sight of a tall red-head, offering iced tea. His vision shifted to the coffee table. On it lay a small pistol. But the woman didn't seem to worry much for it.

"I'm very serious." She said with a smile. "Everyone likes sun-brewed iced-tea."

"Tomero, ugokuna ka Omae O Korosu."6 Hiiro's well known epitaph rang out, but the woman smiled on.

"Ayashige."7 She said softly. "Onegai. Sit."8 Duo moved further into the house as Hiiro did, and they spread like a pack. She waited patiently, under the barrel of Duo's gun as the rest of his team checked the house.

"Clear!" Trowa called, followed quickly by Quatre, Hiiro, and Wufei.

"There's no one here." Quatre said. Though Duo did not, Quatre had lowered his gun, his eyes trained on the woman who still stood, tray of drinks in hand. "No one but her."

"The tracker led here." Duo said. He looked to the side only for a moment, pulling the small device from his pocket. It was beeping a mile a minute. His gun followed the woman as she set her tray down upon the coffee table, reaching into the pocket of her dress.

"He said not to move Onna." Wufei grunted, his gun trained on the woman's head. She chuckled.

"I heard him well." She moved her hand so there were only two fingers in the pocket, and slowly pulled up a small shiny speck. "My eyes don't work very good anymore. Heightens the other senses considerably." The tracker in Duo's pocket went crazy. She turned her fingers in the air, still holding the small speck between them. "So that's what it is. Clever boy. So small." He looked hard at her. This close it was hard to miss the misty cataracts over her pale blue eyes. She was indeed blind.

"Where are Serenity and Hotaru?" The woman smiled again.

"You've checked the house. They're not here. By all means though, look again. I have a back door." Hiiro nodded at Trowa, who moved towards the back of the house, opening it, and returning to the livingroom almost immediately.

"It's a barren beach." He said. "There isn't much of anywhere to go. And no sign of them. No footprints. Nothing." The woman seemed pleased, and she sat herself down on her plush suede couch. She smoothed her dress over her legs, and gestured to the drinks at the table.

"If you are quite satisfied, you may sit now." Hiiro looked like he was about to shoot the woman where she sat, so Duo broke the tension by occupying the chair closest to him, a plush recliner-rocker. He set his gun next to him, on the arm of the chair, reaching over and simultaneously grabbing a glass and the small pistol off the coffee table.

"Nice." He whistled. "Haven't seen one of these in awhile. B.C. Well taken care of."

"Only been fired six times." The woman said softly. "It was a gift from a friend."

"Some friend, giving guns for gifts." Quatre had taken his lead and sat himself down on the other side of the couch the woman occupied. Trowa, Wufei and Hiiro seemed happy with standing.

"Yes." She smiled. "Some friend indeed."

...

She raised three fingers, and was satisfied with Hotaru's nod. Slowly, she took down one, two, then three. She and Hotaru moved silently across the roof of Mollie's house, dropping off and landing with no sound on a side of the house with no windows and no doors. They waited for a moment, for a breath, and then they both ran, as fast as they could, towards the salty-smelling ocean.

It could not be seen by the house, but in a small alcove by the waves, a boat hid. Mollie kept it for emergencies. Right now definitely qualified. There was no sound behind them. Letting her know that no one had followed. Mollie was keeping them occupied, she supposed. She did not worry for her friend. Not in the presence of the Gundam Pilots. Not in the presence of Duo. Her heart hurt just thinking his name, but she brushed it away as Hotaru pushed the boat from the dock, and they moved swiftly into the water.

She only felt it safe enough to speak when she could no longer see the cove. Hotaru seemed to feel the same way.

"Think she'll be okay?" The small girl asked. Serenity nodded.

"They won't hurt her." She said, rubbing at the itching wound on her calf. "She's innocent. Worst comes to worst we retrieve her later."

"So they would have hurt us?" Hotaru asked. "Killed us?" She did not seem bothered by her own question. It was just something she wondered.

"Hurt us, yes." Serenity said, staring out onto the calm ocean waves. "They proved that much at the hotel. Killed us?" She smirked despite the storm of emotions that swirled in her chest. If she had to... could she kill Duo? "Who knows?"

...

_**Serenity and Hotaru have managed to slip away, with a little assistance from an old friend. But where will they go? With the Gundams on their heels, is there anywhere left to hide? Will Duo like the iced tea? You'll only find out if you look for the next chapter of Mona Lisa. My apologies for not responding to reviews... I am getting them... and I thank you so much for the encouragement... I just have little time to post these days... as my laptop is the only working computer in the house and I live with six adults and three children. Lol. Please continue to review, and enjoy!**_

_**For those who didn't know...**_

_**1 : Naru : Mollie's name in the manga.**_

_**2 : Daijoubou Usa-chan? : Are you alright Usagi?**_

_**3 : Daijoubou ka Naru-Chan. : I'm fine Mollie.**_

_**4 : Gomen-nasai : I'm sorry. / I apologize.**_

_**5 : Bakayaros : Assholes**_

_**6 : Tomero, ugokuna ka Omae O korosu : Stop right there, or I'll kill you.**_

_**7 : Ayashige : Doubtful.**_

_**8 : Onegai : Please.**_


	7. Chapter Seven : The Road To The End

_**Disclaimer:**_** I do not and never will own any right to Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. Though I fervently wish I did. However this story, it's general plotline, all of it's original characters do belong to me. Go on, try to sue. I think I've got some lint and a few quarters in my purse.**

...

_**:Mona Lisa: **_

...

_No. Normal did not exist for us. But pretending, just for awhile. That was okay. Wasn't it? I'd always wanted my little Firefly to have a normal life. Mollie would be fine until we arrived. So for now, even if it was something we could never reach. Could never touch or hold, I wanted us to be normal._

...

_**: Chapter Seven :The Road To The End :**_

...

"Daijoubou?"1 They had made their way along the coast from Mollie's, and were currently residing in a safe-house of the redhead's make. It was a small shack, set in the cliffs so that it was barely visible. There was food stored, though most of it had gone bad over time. The most valuable things inside were fresh gauze, two untraceable cells, clothes, and clean water. Hotaru took a sip from one of the bottles, before pouring a bit onto a cloth.

"Daijoubou ka."2 The woman answered, as she let her tend to her wounds. The bullet had indeed lodged in the bone of her calf. The skin had closed over this, and her shoulder. The reprieve on the boat had given them time. It was nearing dark now, though it was still warm outside. "I do however, feel very dirty."

"Agreed." She said softly, rinsing the dried blood from Serenity's calf before tossing the gauze off to the side. She undid the vest around her bosom, and threw that to the ground as well. "Shall we take a swim?" Her eyes laid on Serenity's frosty grey, and she caught her nodding.

"Sounds lovely." It took them little time to strip down. Serenity, to nothing but her slim black panties. She'd never understood her Hime's love for nudity. In the few years that she had been Usagi... Such a thing would have turned her bright red with embarrassment. She stripped only down to her bra and panties, and opened the small shack to the night air.

It was almost dusk, and the sun was sinking on the horizon. For a moment, she just stood there, staring. It was beautiful. One of those rare moments she and Serenity often missed. One that brought back fond memories. Old memories. There was the sudden feeling of a hand grasping hers, and she looked up into Serenity's frosty grey eyes. She was smiling. A real smile. It was something that instantly brought tears to her eyes, it had been so long.

"C'mon Firefly." She whispered. And Hotaru was content to let the older girl pull her along and eventually into the cool ocean waves. She wished, as she dove into the water with the woman she loved more than herself, that it could always be like this. And knew, without really thinking about it, that it never would be.

...

Duo took a tentative sip of the iced-tea he held in his hand. Smacking his lips at the taste and raising his eyebrows in surprise. "It's good." He commented happily. He could hear Wufei snort.

"Baka."3 He smiled.

"Oh come on Wu-man." He said. "Try it. The woman makes a mean iced-tea. It would go well with some bourbon." He didn't miss Hiiro's trademark glare. "Jeez." He took another sip of the iced-tea as Quatre took over the conversation. It was really good.

"You seem to know why we're here." Quatre said. The woman nodded.

"The same reason anyone ever bothers me here." She said with a smile. "Usa and Firefly bring trouble wherever they go."

"Usa?" Quatre questioned. "Firefly?" The woman brushed curly red hair from her eyes, and nodded again. Her eyes stared nowhere, and at nothing in particular. It was unnerving in a way Duo could not quite explain. And also... comfortable.

"Mmhmm. Usagi. It means..."

Hiiro cut her off. "Bunny." The woman nodded again.

"Yes. Serenity is Usagi, and Hotaru is Firefly. And before you even ask. Yes, they were here, and no, I will not tell you where they've gone." Her tone was still friendly, but her words were final. He could hear it in her voice.

"Why not?" Trowa asked. She smiled.

"Because I don't know. I do know they were in a hurry."

'Because they didn't want to meet up with us.' Duo thought it, but did not say it. It did not seem to make a difference though, the woman turned unseeing eyes on him. He took another sip of the iced-tea, disturbed by her stare.

"You said they always bring trouble." Quatre said. "If we are the trouble, why did they leave you alone?" The woman smiled, and turned towards his Arabian comrade. He didn't want to admit it, but he was relieved she no longer looked upon him. He felt as if she could see right through him.

"For the same reason I made tea instead of meeting you at the door with my pistol." She said with mirth in her voice. "You are koneko compared to the others my loves have brought my way."

"Kittens eh?" Duo said. It was one of the few japanese words he knew. "I wouldn't say that." The woman laughed at this, a quite laugh that still chimed like bells. Her pale eyes turned back his way.

"You would if you'd have seen all I've seen."

"Forgive me." Duo said, raising an eyebrow. "But aren't you blind?" He shrugged at Quatre's appalled look, but the woman only chuckled.

"You do not need eyes to see child." She said simply. She raised her hand to him then, fingers open and inviting. For a moment, he wondered at her, before gripping her hand with his own, calloused one. There was an instant tingle when their skin touched, and it dawned on him exactly what she had meant. She was an empath. The feeling was undeniable. But she did not probe, like Quatre often did. "Watashi wa Mollie."4

"She's like you Quat-man." He said softly, with a smile. "She makes me all tingly."

Wufei snorted again. "Maxwell. If we didn't need you I'd kill you myself. Onna." He moved in front of Mollie, and she broke contact with Duo's hand so she could look up towards the sound of his comrade's voice. "You will tell us where the other Onna's have gone. Or we will kill you right here." Quatre looked shocked. He was having a hard time keeping the shock off of his face as well, but the woman looked completely unfazed.

"I bet your face is hard." She said. "And you cross your arms a lot." Duo could not help the laugh that broke from his lips. It made him spray a bit of the tea he'd been occupying himself with. Mollie smiled too, seeming pleased with his reaction. "You can kill me if you like. It won't bring you any closer to them. Besides." She looked more somber now. "It won't be long before they wander your way."

"What makes you say that?" Quatre asked softly. She turned pale eyes to him.

"The fact that your first thought is not of killing me, but of taking me hostage." The whole room was silent. It was a thought that he knew had crossed his own mind. It was not something they usually resorted to, but they had lost their last lead with this woman, and she seemed important to both girls. Important enough, to gift her a gun for protection, even though the woman could not see. The other men had seemed to surmise this as well.

"You don't seem bothered by this." Quatre said. She shook her head.

"It has been a long time since I've left this house." She said softly. "It will be like an adventure. And..." She screwed her eyes shut, as if thinking carefully on the words that left her mouth next. "I believe, though you may think it silly, that you are the ones who will save them from the dark."

Duo blanched. What a strange thing to say. He opened his mouth, but Trowa beat him to the question that was on his tongue. "Do you know what they've done?"

Mollie looked suddenly pained, and both she and Quatre raised their hands to their hearts in the same moment, Quatre letting out a small gasp. She seemed to collect herself quickly, sending a small, apologetic smile towards his blond friend. "All too well." She said softly. "But you'll never catch her if you don't try to understand why."

He was perplexed by this. Why? It was the question he'd had on his mind since hearing her name from that girl's mouth. Since feeling her below him, above him. Since taking the blow she'd dished out, since hearing her mumbled apology. He only realized he'd been staring into space when his vision refocused, and he realized Mollie had been staring at back at him intently. "I'll pack my things." She said softly, and stood, Trowa nodding at them before following her into her room.

He was left with a sense he couldn't define, and shrugged it off, taking another sip of the cool iced-tea.

...

"They took her." Hotaru said softly. It may have been the look on her face that had given it away, she couldn't be sure. They lay on the sand, in the moonlit dark. The salt water had cleansed them, but just laying there had been too tempting to pass up. They'd have to rinse themselves once more before dressing.

"No." Serenity said. She had cast out her senses, something she usually abhorred, to keep watch on the fiery redhead at a distance. "She went with them." She lay on her side, staring at Hotaru's pale frame in the moonlight. She couldn't remember the last time they'd just... sat there. It was comforting and alien at the same time. She rolled, and stared up at the pale countenance of the moon.

"Oh Moll." Hotaru sighed into her arm, her voice muffled. Serenity tucked her hands behind her head, enjoying the feeling of the soft, wet sand on her naked skin. "So what's the game plan Ren?" Serenity sighed.

"We go get her, of course." She said softly. She should have known her old friend better. She'd jumped at the chance to greet the pilots without question. Of course, with the powers of empathy she'd gained over the years, she could sense they meant her no harm. She seemed to have also decided, that they meant she and Hotaru no harm either. As long as they complied. As long as they were good little girls. Which both, had a very hard time being. It came from a millenia of being used by the fates. Or perhaps, because it was very plausible, the red-head had sensed the fight within herself. Getting 'captured' was a good way to make Serenity stop running.

"Ren..." Hotaru's voice was soft and unguarded. "To the end." She felt her soft, small hand in her own, and she grasped her little one's fingers.

"The bitter end Hota." She wanted to believe it wouldn't be. But years of experience had taught her better. There was no hope. Not for the damned.

...

They'd flown to the Winner Mansion. Mollie had been quiet for the most part, a question here, a statement there. She'd never been on a shuttle before, but she took it in stride. He was not the only one who noticed her white knuckles on the flight. She had smiled warmly when Quatre put a hand on her shoulder to reassure her. He was mildly amazed by her. She had calmly packed her things, and let them lead her out the door. Her trust in them was unwarranted. Her trust in Serenity, immeasurable. She had no doubt the girl would come. Didn't even question it.

Quatre had set her up with her own room. They did not bother locking the door. The woman seemed to acclimate quickly, but she was still very much blind. On top of this, it seemed she had no thoughts of trying to leave. The last time he'd seen her she was acquainting herself with the large room, counting softly aloud as she stepped across it. When she reached an object, she would stop, turn, and count again. It was remarkable to see. There had been blind children, at the Church so long ago. But none with the tenacity or self-assuredness that woman possessed.

He was currently occupying his own room. The day had left him with a massive headache, and he soothed this and his conflicted emotions with a glass of rum. Quatre had a massive liquor cabinet. It was mostly reserved for the coming of dignitaries, but he'd had a key made years ago. He hadn't told Quatre, but he knew somehow the Arabian had guessed. Couldn't have been all the times he'd passed out in one of the massive hallways. He smirked. Nah, definitely not.

Tomorrow was the day. The day he'd left her behind. A week ago, he'd still thought she was dead and gone. Now, the coming of it stirred different emotions in him. There was still the deep, raw anger. The overwhelming regret. But this time, it was directed differently, and mixed with unending confusion. He swirled the rum in the glass, twisting his wrist back, and forth. He was upon the soft covers of his bed, leaned over the glass with his legs crossed beneath him when the door opened, and he realized he'd been so dazed he was staring at nothing. He didn't really need to look up to know who it was. Only one person opened his door without knocking.

"Hey Hii-man." The fake smile that was plastered on his face did not fool his comrade. He placed himself just inside the door, preferring to lean against one of his overstuffed chairs as opposed to actually sitting in it. His arms were crossed. For a moment, they stared at one another, and Duo was the first one to break it, shaking his head with a knowing smirk on his face.

"If I have to kill her." Hiiro said, his tone icy cold. "I will Duo. I'll kill both of them." Duo sighed, and ran a hand through his bangs, nodding at the same time.

"I know Hiiro." He said, and surprised himself with the strength that came through his voice. It belied how he actually felt. "I told you I'm with you."

"I wish I didn't have to question it." He shifted his eyes quickly to his comrade. Indigo against stark prussian blue. The man was waiting to see his reaction. Not that it was out of character. Hiiro Yui missed nothing. But beyond the obvious... Duo knew he had nothing to hide.

"You don't." He said, and smiled, taking another sip of the sweet and simultaneously bitter rum. It rushed through him, a warmth he needed. "Sere and I have history." he chuckled a bit... at the irony of it all. "For sure." He took another sip, and then an immediate gulp, tossing the now empty glass from hand to hand as he spoke. "But we have no future."

They were in a lock again, eyes glued to each other. Searching. Questioning. It was Hiiro who looked away this time. "I wouldn't be so sure."

Duo sighed, exasperated. "Dude, what is it you want me to say? I put a fucking bug on her... I chased them both down with the team. We took her freaking blind friend from the house she's never left! What the fuck do you want from me?"

Hiiro was silent, for a moment, before he finally opened his mouth to speak. "To admit that it's not just that easy."

The anger still burned in him. "How would a man who's never loved a thing in his life know?" It was wrong to say, and he knew it. It was something that never would have spilled from his mouth in a different situation. He was instantly sorry, instantly cooled, but the icy look in Hiiro's eyes said the damage had been done. His sigh echoed in the empty room a second later. His comrade had closed the door again and left him in the dim light from the lamp beside his bed.

"Fuck."

...

Her heart hurt. Over the past few days it had become little more than a dull ache. They had taken the boat and returned to the coast that Mollie's house laid upon. Her head hurt too. She had kept her empathic connection with her redheaded friend open. In this way, she knew where to find her. Could tell how she fared. With Hotaru, the connection was intuitive. With Mollie, it was something cast, like a fishing line with a glowing beacon at the end. Mollie was all soft pastels, yellow mostly. She wondered what color she casted, briefly. Decided it must be black. Her body was the only thing that no longer hurt. Every wound had finally healed to a bright pink scar. Soon, those would be gone too.

"You alright?" Hotaru was draped lazily over the arm of Mollie's couch, flipping the channels on her tv with little interest.

"Yeah." She was on the other side of the couch, fiddling with the dismantled pieces of Rln. Taking her apart and putting her back together usually calmed her. Fitting the pieces back together like a puzzle was mechanical, comforting. It wasn't really working this time.

"You should shut it off." Hotaru turned lazy eyes on her. She knew the girl could feel the tugs on her own mind, even though the distress was not her own.

"I'm keeping an eye on Naru." She said softly. The resounding clicks of putting Rin back together at a fast pace drowned out the tv. Hotaru decidedly shut it off.

"When are you going to start keeping an eye on yourself?" It was an innocent enough question really, there was no accusing infliction. She smirked.

"It's been nearly three millenia love." She looked the gun over and then sat it down with a clink on the coffee table. Beyond it was the small tracker Duo had planted on her. She stared at it. Not that they'd needed the reference, but this had been the men's way of telling them they had Mollie in their grasp. Subtle and effective. Their style couldn't be ignored. "Don't think I ever knew how." Hotaru seemed to accept this, sinking lower so that her chin rested on her hands, head turned only slightly towards Serenity.

"Fair enough." The girl said softly. Serenity tried to ignore the buzz of voices in her head. Mollie was talking to someone... soft green and navy blue. She hadn't seen enough of the other pilots to gauge them. Hiiro, she knew was a bold color from his impression. But her gates had not been flooded like they were now. From the senses Mollie sent her way, she was fine. Comfortable. Well taken care of. There was no rush to aid her. The woman knew they would not leave her there. "When are you going to stop keeping an eye on me?"

She smirked. There was no fooling the small spitfire. Nothing she could hide, not really. "I don't want to drag you into my hell." Hotaru snorted.

"Newsflash love." She said softly. "I'm already there."

She was silent. She was taking the time to figure out just exactly what she was going to do when they got there. Bust through the doors to 'save' her from a luxury room and men who meant her no harm? No. There was no use in running anymore. Not from the Preventers. But the implications that came with being in such close proximity to _him. _She shook her head. It was why she'd run, instead of standing and facing him in the hotel... both times. That, and her fear for her charge. But it didn't matter. Seth was dead. She'd accomplished the one thing she'd vied for in this life, His blood on her hands. Being used by the Preventers was no different than being used by the fates. She could handle it. As long as...

"Stop it." Hotaru's voice was too loud, and she involuntarily hissed in pain. Hotaru looked only mildly apologetic. "How many times have I told you that you can't rid yourself of me?" She asked. "How many times have I told you I will not leave your side til the end?"

Serenity shook her head, rubbing her aching temples. Empathy was a stupid power. "I thought you said.."

Hotaru cut her off with a crooked smile. "I'm not psychic. How many times have I told you that?" She rolled, lifting her legs up and over Serenity's bare ones. Mollie had plenty of clothes stored for them here. Hotaru had favored the comfortable yoga pants and a tight black tee, while she had pulled a pair of soft shorts and a tank top from the drawers of Mollie's Guest room.

"A million times." She said, arching her back in a streach and lying her head back comfortably on the back of the couch. "I still don't believe you."

...

"The tracker is moving. I think they're just mocking us." Duo spoke over the bagel in his mouth. His eyes hurt from staring at the screen of his laptop, but he ignored it. He could only imagine the circles that were under his eyes right now. Sleep did not come easy.

"Can you tell where they are?" Duo clicked a few keys as Quatre moved behind him, a cup of tea in his hand. He shook his head after a few moments. "Haven't left that chick's house. Where's Hiiro?"

"Haven't seen him since last night." Quatre said, and the pang of guilt in his chest was hard to ignore. Quatre said nothing if he'd felt it. "You think it could help lead them here?" He'd rigged the tracker to turn on and off as it moved. It hadn't moved far, maybe a few feet. If it was still, it would shut off to save power. And it could not trace itself back to the transmitter. There was a lock-out he'd built specifically for that purpose.

"Nah." He shrugged, and took another bite of his bagel, and stood, closing the laptop. Nothing to be done now. "The system will alert me where they're moving, if they do. It could just be a trick. Or it could not be them at all. I can't see or hear through it. It's too small for that. Those are the things I had to take out to make it stealth. I'll keep an eye on it." He took a sip of milk, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. It bothered him that Hiiro had disappeared. But didn't necessarily worry him. The man could take care of himself.

"Duo." He turned to Quatre's voice. The Arabian looked pained. "Are you alright?"

He smiled for his friend's benefit. The day had been hard. But it was numbing slowly. In the days before finding her alive this anniversary had been full of regret and pain. This time, nothing. He didn't have it in him to feel anything anymore. "Yeah buddy. I'm good." He took another bite of the bagel. "Are you?"

Quatre nodded, but it was slow. "I just have a... bad feeling." He said softly. "Something isn't right." Duo shrugged.

"Nothing is ever right Q-man. Never has been. Probably never will be." The Arabian smiled softly.

"I guess you're right Duo." He said, but looked dazed as he wandered away. He knew it shouldn't bother him. But it did.

...

The guns and other weapons Mollie had stashed for them, as well as what cash they had left and some clothes, were packed into the trunk of the Red 350Z she had stored in her garage. The woman could not drive. She had a young man who delivered her groceries every week. She kept the car solely for she and Hotaru's benefit. It was jittery from a lifetime of no use, but Hotaru was magic with mechanics, and she had it purring like a kitten in no time.

Hotaru was already waiting in the car. Serenity stood in the livingroom, her eyes resting on the small tracker that still laid on the coffee table. With a smirk, and shaking fingers, she picked it up, and stuck it in the back pocket of her jeans. Why not? They had to know they were coming anyways.

She realized with little emotion that this was the end. This ride would be their last ride of freedom. It mattered little, now that she had accepted it. But she had silently planned to make it as normal as possible. To make real memories with her charge before the inevitable end. Memories that weren't drenched in blood. It was all she could do.

...

"That bitch." He ran a hand through slick hair, sniffing hard. The casket before him was closed, and he was the only man who occupied the room. He was glad of it. He had alot to say to the body beneath the mahogany lid, alot that other ears could never hear. He leaned down, and laid his forehead on the cool wood.

"But we got her bro. I got a lock on her already. Those preventers think they're so smart. Didn't take long for Maro to hack their silly little tracking system. I'm on her tail. And I will have my revenge." He stood again, and tapped the top of the coffin with two light fingers. "I'll put a bullet in her head."

That said, Jed Corrodin crossed himself, and strode from the room.

...

"Can you tell where they are?" Hotaru tapped the drum beat of a song she couldn't quite remember, but didn't take her eyes off the beautiful scenery. Serenity's voice was somber when she answered.

"It's like a glowing trail. I'm not sure I could if they didn't have Naru. Humans don't give off signals like she does."

"Moll is human." Hotaru argued.

"Yeah. So are we." Serenity returned. Hotaru smiled.

"Noted." She could sense the tension beneath her friend's soft exterior. The tightness in her muscles. The worry in her heart. She did not need to be an empath to know Serenity. She had known her since the moment she was born. As she had known Sets... and all the others. She was not psychic. She was merely attuned to her Hime's thoughts, her movements, her eyes, they told her all she needed to know. Serenity was trying to find her a way out. A way to save her from the consequences of their actions in this life. She tried this in every life. Or at least in every life she'd been born first. Sometimes... she would end her own life to throw Hotaru off the grid. She feared this now, though she tried not to. It did not matter. There was no stopping the bull-headed princess. She did what she thought she must to protect her own. Even if it meant immesurable pain on her part.

She sighed, laying her head on her hands and letting the breeze carry her hair away from her face. She liked this car. It was a two seater convertible. It didn't carry much. But it suited their needs. Perhaps... she could come back for it after this. She had a feeling, though it hurt... that Serenity would not be returning with her.

She had vowed since her betrayal to follow her Hime to the end. To every end. Over and Over. Her word was law. Even if sometimes she did not agree. But she hoped. She hoped even if it was just a fleeting chance that the man who had jumbled her hime's thoughts could help. It was a long shot and she knew it. But what else was there but guesses and wishes in a life like this? She had to try.

She shifted her eyes to the silver-haired vixen, and was greeted with a small smile. "You're back I see." She said softly, and Hotaru felt color rise to her cheeks. She's been caught, staring off into space as she thought. She felt Serenity's hand on her thigh, and smiled back. "What do you say we go shopping?" Serenity asked, and laughed at her instant confusion. "Rock Climbing?" Serenity continued. "Find an amusement park?"

Hotaru sighed, but kept the smile on her face. She wondered if Serenity was even aware she was doing it. This slow dance to the end. "Whatever you want Ren." She said softly. She'd never be able to tell the woman that those moments at the end did not matter. Not when she was holding her cold body in her arms, bereft of her light. She didn't have the heart. But it seemed, she had the everlasting soul.

...

It didn't make up for it. And she knew that, even though Hotaru seemed to think she didn't. It was unnerving how truly well they knew each other. She realized that sitting here, picnicking at the park under the shade of a cherry blossom tree did not absolve the fact that soon, Hotaru would be left alone. But the act itself brought her back to a normalcy they couldn't reach otherwise. A normalcy that was near impossible. Maybe, Non-existant.

She sipped tea with her pinky up, laughing when Hotaru copied her, pursing her lips and sipping the tea loudly. The laugh lingered. It felt good even. They had traveled hours, to the closest shuttle port. There was a park nearby, and she had organized a quick luncheon from a local shop, bought a soft blanket, and suggested they wait their time out here. She realized suddenly, that the silence was deafening.

She set her tea cup down, and closed her eyes, reveling in the soft breeze that kicked up. It was still July, but nearing the end. Long, Long ago, her birthday had been in this month. But it changed so many times over the years that she could not remember which day. "Hota?" It was a near whisper, and she set her grey eyes on her charge. The girl looked up, the smile no longer on her face, her cup paused before her lips. "You know I love you right?"

The girl set her cup down too, and smiled, reaching out to grab her hand. She took it firmly. "Of course I do Ren."

"And you know I'm sorry?" It was hard to say, but she didn't know why.

"You don't have to be." Hotaru looked at a loss for words suddenly, cloudy and confused, but it cleared quickly, and when she spoke again, her voice was strong. "It hurts everytime. But it's not your fault. I'd never blame you."

"I know this doesn't help." Serenity said softly, smiling again. "I know it doesn't make it better. But I wish.." She sighed. "I wish this was all we could remember."

"Me too." Hotaru whispered softly, squeezing her hand again as she picked up her tea once more. She closed her eyes, and Serenity followed suit. The breeze lifted both their hair in a soft caress. But a strong wind was coming. And there was no stopping it.

...

He watched the tiny, platinum blonde girls run circles around a flustered Quatre. Quatre had many sisters, 28 in all after the death of his dear Iria, and those sisters had an innumerable amount of children. Currently his sister Katrina was visiting, and though it was only for a day, her twins had enough energy to drain you for a week.

"Mister Duo, Mister Duo!" Their voices chimed out over the broad gardens of the Winner mansion, and he sighed with a smile. They had been a welcome interruption in his eyes. Their childish innocence kept his mind off of the swirling emotions inside. They tugged at his arms, and he laughed wholeheartedly.

"What, won't Uncle Quatre play with you anymore?" Quatre raised an eyebrow from the distance, his eyes pleading, and he laughed again. With one scoop, he had both girls giggling in his arms, spinning so that their legs splayed out like a merry go round. When he was done, he collapsed upon the ground, laughing aloud with them. It was nice. It was normal. It was something he could never have.

Once, he'd thought about a normal life, and a normal family. It had been a long time ago. Before the threat of war had taken him from.. her. "Mister Duo." Lani, the tallest of the two, scolded him with her voice playfully.

"You shouldn't look so sad." Hannah said. He smiled wide.

"Does that run in the family or something?" He asked out loud, and smiled when the girls looked confused. "Forget it." He shook his head. "What next?" The girls squealed in delight, and he tried to focus solely on their sweet, innocent faces as they dragged him towards their next game.

...

_**Kind of a blah reflective chapter... But no worries... The action will heat up in the next installment. Serenity and Hotaru move closer to Mollie, in her luxury captivity, making a few 'normal' stops on the way towards the end. But what's this? Someone else knows their whereabouts? Find out in the next chapter of Mona Lisa.**_

_** :**_

_**For those who didn't know...**_

_**1 : Daijoubou : Are you okay?**_

_**2 : Daijoubou ka: Yeah, I'm fine.**_

_**3 : Baka : Idiot.**_

_**4 : Watashi wa Mollie: My name is Mollie.**_


	8. Chapter Eight : Run Down, Drug Out

_**Disclaimer:**_** I do not and never will own any right to Gundam Wing or Sailor Moon. Though I fervently wish I did. However this story, it's general plotline, all of it's original characters do belong to me. Go on, try to sue. I think I've got some lint and a few quarters in my purse.**

...

_**:Mona Lisa: **_

...

_It didn't matter how they found us. Every once in awhile, scumbags get lucky. And we were being less than careful. With Ren stuck in the dream of giving me a normal life... and me playing along just to see her smile. I cherish those moments you see... because they never last. _

...

_**: Chapter Eight : Run Down, Drug Out :**_

...

"Looks like they're getting on a plane." Maro smiled as Jed leaned over her shoulder, kissing the dark skin there. "Got no hits on our server yet. I'm amazed at the stupidity of our favorite Gundam Boys. Labeling a tracker."

"You are an angel." His voice drifted seductively to her ear, and she purred pleasantly. "Or a devil." She laughed lightly.

"I'm just good at what I do."

"Which is why I'm glad you work for me. Keep an eye on where they land love." He kissed her on the cheek, and left the room. Jed wasn't like his brother. He was a money launderer, a thief of expensive and rare items, and a keeper of fine talents like Maro. Hackers, Grunts, Murderers, he employed them all. And a few were very interested in the where-abouts of the Infamous Shini no Kisu and Kemuri No Kaze. He was making money off of his revenge already. Just the way he liked it. But he wanted to be the one who finally took her down. His private jet was set to fly wherever it was they landed next.

"Soon Bro." He whispered, straightening his cuff links and smoothing his tie. There was a party he was to attend tonight, and he looked damn good. His green eyes sparkled. "So very, very soon."

...

Egypt was beautiful. And although they were so close, she had opted to drag their small road-trip out for three more days. She hadn't seen the pyramids in a lifetime or two, and she longed to touch the old stones with her fingers again. Hotaru seemed to express the same sentiment. The pyramids were some of the few things on this world that had lasted nearly as long as they did. They had gone to a beautiful market, and outfitted themselves in Sari's and golden bangles. Serenity had pulled nearly ten thousand dollars out of the bank labeled with the name Amity Lelaine. They hadn't burned even half of it yet.

Hotaru laughed when she mounted the camel like a pro, and Serenity laughed when the small girl had to be helped by their guide because of her stature. Her eyes only narrowed for a moment on the man in the crowd, and the smile stayed on her face, but she knew Hotaru had caught the look with keen eyes. Perhaps their delay was well warranted. They were being followed.

...

He was close. He had sent one of his men, his best tracker, ahead. The girls seemed to be vacationing. The location was so perfect he wondered if they had expected a firefight. They were currently riding camels out on the desert, heading for the Great Pyramid of Giza. He was in the process of coaxing his men to do the same.

He'd brought five with him, as well as Maro, who had to admit looked absolutely smoking in a Sari. It put him a mood that was high enough not to start shooting his subordinates when they complained about the method of travel. When one of his burliest men got particularly whiny, he caved.

"Rent two fucking all terrains and get your asses and weapons in it now." He snarled, though his eyes were all for Maro. She was a true Eastern Beauty. He touched her cheek with a soft manicured hand, licking his lips when she turned lusty green eyes to his. His beauty loved the hunt. The sex would be amazing later.

His men snapped to attention at his tone. He wasn't the leader for nothing. He was the most blood thirsty of them all.

"You look like you're already having fun." Maro purred. He smiled with perfect white teeth, running his hands up and down her body. He'd refused to dress like the natives, which was why he'd sent Darran ahead. His Armani Suit did little to keep him cool, even though it was not in his usual black.

"I'll be having fun once we're in air-conditioned Jeeps." He said. "And once I get you home..." She laughed.

"We always have fun at home. I am excited to meet this ghost." She smirked. "Good thing you let Louie convince you of the vehicles."

"I would have caved sooner or later."

"Ah," She giggled. "You softie."

"On the contrary.." He said, grabbing her hand and bringing it to the front of his perfectly pressed pants. "I'm very hard." She groped, and laughed again before giving him a passionate kiss.

"This will be fun." She said. He smiled, groaning as her hand wandered, uncaring of the crowd around them. Yes, it would be.

...

"This is strange." Duo rubbed his eyes as he sat in front of the laptop yet again. It had two days since he'd seen Hiiro, and he'd been watching the progress of the tracker. It was moving closer than he liked. He knew the girls would be on their way to retrieve Mollie, but they hadn't left a real clue to where they'd taken her. They decided not to, to better use the time for research. Of course everyone knew their favorite place was the Winner Mansion, and everyone knew Quatre owned it, but it wasn't a Preventers base. It was strange they'd picked this as their first spot to look. If it was even them. He rubbed his face with both hands. He needed to find a way to integrate sound in the damn things.

"What's strange baka?" Wufei was the only one who occupied the main livingroom of the Mansion with him. Trowa and Quatre were off doing... Trowa and Quatre things. He smirked at the thought before continuing.

"The tracker is moving straight for us. These girls... if it is them, are smarter than they look. Or Mollie fooled us and she's pinned too." His computer went wild all of a sudden, beeping as the map shifted to type. "What the..."

"Maxwell..." The Chinese man sounded annoyed. He liked swords and explosives. He avoided computers like the plague if he was able to.

"Someone is hacking my fucking system." Duo said, and he was annoyed now too. Whoever it was they were fast. He let his fingers fly mechanically over the keyboard, to no avail. "Shit," He fumbled with the phone in his pocket, and pressed one. There was no voice on the other end, but he heard the tell-tale click when Hiiro picked up. "Listen buddy I know you're not happy with me. But we got a major problem."

"I'm listening."

"Got a hit to my system. And it looks like the girls picked it up and are headed our way." He paused, taking a breath.

"So what's the problem?" Hiiro sounded annoyed now too. Did he have that effect on everyone? Jeez. He sighed.

"The problem is someone hacked the tracker. I can't find who... they're bouncing off like at least three hundred servers. I hate to say it. But Shinigami has been bested."

"I'll be right there." The line went dead. He hadn't really wanted to press his comrade, after his ridiculous outburst, but this was important. If the girls had tapped it themselves, and were moving towards them of their own accord, fine. But a feed back to the tracker you held in your hand seemed... pointless. On the other hand... if someone had tapped the tracker that they held... it was leading them right to their targets.

They had taken precautions to intercept the girls as soon as Duo had notified Quatre of the moving signal. But this needed to be checked out just in-case. He sincerely hoped it didn't get complicated. He'd been having a pretty good day.

...

She was worried because it was quiet. Too quiet. She and Hotaru had wandered away from their guide. It wasn't like they could really get lost in this area. They were at the Great Pyramid ruins, exploring here and there. The camels they had left near the front of the ruins, but they'd made sure to arm themselves appropriately. Sari's were great for that. Rin was strapped in her regular position on her thigh. She had two pistols at her hips, two knives at her right ankle, a magnum strapped to her chest, and her katana over her shoulder, hidden by the breezy teal fabric. They had glamoured beneath the outfits to be safe, but she could feel the unease in the air. Something was coming, and they both knew it.

Hotaru was loaded much in the same way she was, though she had her Glaive as apposed to her katana. Her hands tensed open and closed, they were both filled with unease. "There." She whispered.

In the distance Serenity could see them. Two All terrain green Jeeps... heading their way fast. Her eyes widened. How in all hell had anyone found them? She cursed beneath her breath. She'd gotten too comfortable in her own skin. Not many women had silver hair. But Hotaru had seemed to appreciate it so much... It didn't matter. "Are you ready?" She asked. Hotaru nodded grimly.

"Always."

...

He breathed in when he got out of the Jeep, and although the air was rent with sand, he smiled. They were here. The guide, who was a mere ten feet away from them, looked confused but friendly. He raised his gun from his waist band and shot him in the head in one stroke, causing his, and the abandoned camels of the girls to rear and run. "You're sure Maro?" He said, as the girl stepped out of the passenger side of the vehicles with a small lap-top in hand.

"I'm positive." She drawled seductively. She snapped the computer closed and pulled him in by his tie, kissing him even though her eyes were on the body growing colder in the sand where he'd fallen. His lovely minx. She had shed the sari in the car, and was now in nothing but tight white spandex shorts and a white sports bra. There was a machine gun strapped to her back, a knife at her calf.

The men gathered around him. "Go." He said. "They're in here somewhere. But I get the kill shot." He looked around with hard eyes for emphasis at his lackeys. "Or I leave your bodies in the sand too." There was a chorus of 'yes sirs' as they moved out, and he held his hand out to Maro. She took it, and with his gun in the other hand, he led her into the ruins that would soon be painted with the silver bitch's blood.

...

She took the first shot. Because she could see how heavily armed they were from here, and the damn camels had run off with the rest of their money and weapons. Rin was fully loaded, but she only held so many bullets. The man fell like a rock, but it had given away her position. It had been hard, but she'd convinced Hotaru to split from her when she saw he had five men with him. In these ruins, with all their small alleyways and sharp corners, they had a better chance spreading out.

She ducked when four shots came her way, ripping away whole chunks of the old stone she'd just stood next to. A particularly sharp piece rammed her square in the forehead as she rolled, and she blinked away stars too late to dodge a second time. The bullet ripped through her arm, above the elbow, and she cursed aloud. She had enough sense to get up and run. She and Hotaru had removed the Sari's, and were both stripped down to little more than leggings and a sports bra. Both were black. No good for camouflage out here.

The blood dripped from her arm as she ran, and she stemmed it with shaking hands. Her left arm was useless. Goddess she'd been too careless. There was too much going on. her mind was too fuzzy to think straight, and the blood dripping in her eyes was no help with her vision. She set down Rin for just a second, and hastily whipped her hair into a ponytail. It stayed when she dropped her glamour, narrowing grey eyes.

She could hear the footsteps in the sand. One... two... three. Which meant Hotaru was handling three herself. She tried to push the girl from her mind and focus, but her heart clenched when she heard gunfire close. She jumped and rolled, grabbing Rin in the same second when the gunfire burst again, close. She could see them now. Two males. One female. The female was firing. A fucking machine-gun. She wasn't playing around.

She ran with all the power in her legs, dove behind a small stone wall, and popped her head up quickly when the gunfire stopped for a moment. Two shots with Rin... and another male was down. She ducked back behind the wall and grimaced. The wound on her arm had not hit an artery, but it had destroyed a lot of nerves, and it fucking stung. It was suddenly quiet. She made her breaths come slow and easy as she waited.

Gunfire in the distance, and then a voice, one that was achingly familiar... it couldn't be.. "Shinu No Kisu. I've come to put a bullet in your head." She glanced over the wall, and had to bate her sigh of relief. It wasn't Seth. His build was close. But even in this haze she could see his eyes were green, his hair slicked. His height not tall enough. "For my brother."

She cursed. She hadn't known the twit had a fucking brother. But she supposed it didn't matter now. He could have been following her since the club for all she knew. Perhaps it was time to stop drinking. She hissed when her arm throbbed. Or perhaps it was time to start drinking a lot more.

Her only choice was to run again. Two against one put her at a disadvantage in this open area, so she bolted, half crouched, towards another small alley, filled with old statues and relics. She mourned the loss of every artifact as the gunfire followed her. When she'd picked a place to make her last stand, she stopped. She checked Rin's clip. Only two bullets left. But it seemed the two after her were nearly out of bullets. The man carried a .45. Twelve shots at most, and by her count he'd fired five or six. The woman's machine gun clip was almost spent. She could hear the clicks. They were apparently confident enough not to bother picking up the other's weapons. This one seemed to be the leader.

"Hey." She'd felt her before she landed, but the fact that she was speaking made her feel better. Hotaru was covered in blood, and for a moment she worried it was all her own. Hotaru seemed to sense this, and put a hand on her thigh to assure her. She was cut... in a lot of places. Her cheek, both arms, her palms and her thigh. She favored what looked like a broken wrist. "You know I prefer close range." She said with a smirk, "Daijoubou?"

"Daijoubou ka." She said through her own smirk. "Let's get them to waste their bullets." Hotaru's game was on point. Mercenaries relied on guns, and were usually not very versed in hand to hand. Hotaru leaned around her, firing off two shots with her pistol. The firefight was on again.

...

"Seth had a brother." Hiiro said, and he was already checking the bullets in his magnum. They'd relayed his order to move out through phone. Trowa and Quatre would be meeting them at the car. Wufei was already there. "You should have called me sooner."

Duo rubbed the back of his head with his .45 in hand. Yeah, he felt stupid. But there were very few people who knew about his new toy, and none, he had thought, that were at all interested in Preventer business. His opponent had ended up being one of the best hackers on Earth. Maro. He'd been hacked by a fucking girl. Way to add insult to injury. If Hiiro wanted to say this, he didn't. He'd suggested they move to the position the tracker was in, seeing as it was less than a click away from the mansion. The Pyramids of Giza to be exact. "I called you as soon as Maro tapped my system." He said defensively. "We should have just left a god-damned note like I suggested." He didn't mean to snap. But he was pissed. One of the people at the top of the 'danger, do not feed the animals' list was on the trail of the targets who had brutally murdered his brother. Their targets. It was a massive fuck-up. And he _had_ suggested a note in red pen. Mollie seemed assured that it didn't matter what they left... the girls would find her. So with Wufei's arrogant prodding they'd settled on the subtle message the lone tracker sent, sitting on her coffee table. Stupid. "Besides, you would have been there if you weren't off pouting for two days."

Hiiro glared at him as he rounded the corner to the garage, where the rest of comrades were waiting. He jumped in the passenger seat and all four doors slammed at the same time. "I don't pout." It was a statement of fact. Duo had to laugh at the condescending tone, but Hiiro did not look amused. "Be prepared for anything." Hiiro said next, and revved the engine to life, hitting the gas and shooting down the long driveway that led to Winner Mansion.

...

It hadn't taken much shooting to get their enemies to spend their bullets. And they'd come out no worse for wear. Hotaru was currently in an even match with the lithe, dark girl, and she stood face to face with the man who wanted revenge for his pedophile brother.

He had a machete. Which didn't have the range her katana had, but was still a sturdy weapon. She swung and he blocked, she twisted and he dodged. When she finally drew blood, he smiled. She should have figured he'd be a sick bastard if he was related to Seth.

"I have to say you are quite beautiful... especially covered in blood." She sneered, and drove her katana for his gut. He dodged, barely, chuckling. So much for them not being versed in hand to hand. She cried out when he slashed her left forearm. It was slowing her down. She had half the mind to cut it off for all the hinderance it was causing her. She was trying to keep it tucked to her side, but was failing miserably at doing so.

"You're scum just like your brother." She hissed, as she jabbed again, catching his shoulder. He shook it off with practiced ease, looking only a second at the blood that gushed from there. It was all she needed. She'd purposely been keeping her speed under wraps. It was a technique both she and Hota used. Their ace in the hole. His mouth was open when she sliced his throat, and she was sprayed with blood from both openings.

He dropped quickly, and she turned to see how Hota was faring. Her heart froze in her chest. Though the man still gurgled behind her, the wind still kicked up sand that stung her wounds, the pyramids still creaked, for a second, all was silent. The dark woman was poised in position to drive her army knife right through Hotaru's chest.

It wasn't a thought. Nor was it really a movement. One moment she was ten feet away. The next, she felt the searing pain of the knife bore through the space above her ribs. She choked on blood instantly, metallic and bitter. Something inside her snapped. Hotaru's voice was as if underwater, foggy and far, and then she was on the ground. She grasped uselessly at the handle protruding from her gut, gasping for air. It came, but just barely.

Hotaru was above her. She smiled. As long as she was alright. It would be okay. She felt the smile on her lips, fighting for the consciousness to speak. "Ha...Hahaha." A laugh broke out instead. And that was alright.

...

"Ren." She didn't know how she'd done it. She'd been sure her end was coming. With her wounds slowing her down, she'd slipped close range with her glaive. The woman had been about to run her through, and then... Ren was there. In a millisecond, she had spanned ten feet and taken the blow in her stead. It had taken her one more millisecond to remove the head from their offender, and her body was still twitching when Hotaru leaned over her Hime. Her hands shook, her brain fogged. The knife was buried in the space above her ribs, and the red blood flowed past the handle. Serenity took a staggering breath, and laughed. "I don't know what to do..." She knew her voice was broken. And when the sound of footsteps running reached her ears, she decided not to care.

She bent over Serenity's chest, rent with tears that wouldn't come, with pain she couldn't physically feel, but could sense the severity of. There was too much blood. Too much. "Ren!" She screamed her name, her hands lingering over the hilt of the knife, trying to decide if pulling it out was her best option. "Onegai." It was a whisper. The wind whipped sand about, so that the blood that covered both of them and the ground looked gritty and convolouted. Her eyes were closed. She was breathing, but it was all wet gurgles. The knife had punctured a lung.

She bent her head to her best friend's forehead, whispering as the footsteps came closer. She would not leave her. Not until she took her last breath. And if that meant a bullet in the back.. so be it. She'd die here with her Hime, this time around.

She was surprised when a slightly familiar voice rang out behind her. "What the fuck happened here?" She turned her head, but did not move from her protective stance over Ren. Dull, stormy violet met indigo, and she saw his eyes widen when he realized who she was, and who she was kneeling over. The worry she read there gave her unwarranted hope, and she shattered under the weight of it and everything else.

She raised her hands, covered in both Serenity's blood and her own. Her voice sounded as broken as she felt, and she cursed the weakness of it. "Onegai. I can't stop the bleeding." It wasn't time. She wasn't ready. She couldn't lose her now if there was any chance to save her.

...

His blood was cold. He could feel the wrongness of the air, and when the scream rang out over the desert sands, it shocked his heart into an elevated pace. He was the first to find the small alley where the survivors lay, gun drawn. All he could see was blood. It painted the sand like a morbid mosaic. Only when his eyes focused did he see the bodies... the severed head, the bloodied, pale girl with dark hair leaning over... "What the fuck happened here?"

The head turned, and he was finally given view of what she crouched over. Sere. She was covered in blood and sand. His heart stopped. Hotaru raised her hands. They were covered in more blood. Her eyes looked lost. "Onegai. I can't stop the bleeding." This worried him more. And though his brain tried to tell him he did not care, that she was dead to him anyways, his heart lurched painfully. It was thrumming in his chest when he reached her side, and got a view of the real damage. Her arm was mangled. But her chest... An army knife protruded from it, sunk to the hilt. Blood pooled everywhere. It ran from her mouth, which suggested internal injuries. He could hear the other pilots behind him, but did not turn towards them. He'd thought after all this, the anger and the hurt... seeing her like this would be vindicating. He'd convinced himself of it. But he had been horribly, terribly wrong. He raised a hand, and brushed it gently over her blood matted hair, fisting his hands in it and screwing his eyes shut.

"Sere." And then she gasped. A harsh, sucking sound that was wet with sanguine liquid. And after days... days that seemed like years, he stared into her empty grey eyes again.

...

_**If Duo thought it wouldn't hurt to see Ren covered in blood, he was wrong, obviously. Can they save the starry assassin? Or will Hota be left to the dark, and the pilots devices? Find out in the next chapter of Mona Lisa, when Ren wakes, maybe for the last time, to the voice of the man she never wanted to leave behind. . **_


End file.
